Kamil Rudnicki Personal Website

Calculate percentage of dev time using data export and DuckDB in TimeCamp

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

THIS POST IS IN PROGRESS

Calculate Percentage of Dev Time Using Data Export and DuckDB in TimeCamp

Time tracking is essential for understanding where your development team's hours are going. While TimeCamp provides excellent built-in reporting, sometimes you need deeper insights or custom analytics. By combining TimeCamp's data export feature with DuckDB, you can perform powerful SQL queries on your time tracking data without setting up a full database infrastructure.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to export your TimeCamp data and use DuckDB to calculate what percentage of your time is spent on actual development versus meetings, admin tasks, and other activities.

Why DuckDB?

DuckDB is an embedded analytical database that's perfect for this use case. It can:

Query CSV files directly without importing data
Handle large datasets efficiently
Run complex SQL queries with ease
Require zero server setup

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have:

A TimeCamp account with time tracking data
DuckDB installed on your machine
Basic SQL knowledge

Step 1: Prepare and Export Your TimeCamp Data

First, you'll need to export your time tracking data from TimeCamp:

Log into your TimeCamp account
Open "Custom fields" settings and add custom field with name "Type" (available in Ultimate plan)
Open "Project" page and add value for custom field Type = project to every project you would like to see in statistics. You don't need to be perfect here, you can repeat this step later if needed.
Wait about 30 min. for changes to propagate (in the future it will be instant)
Navigate to Manage → Data export
Select your desired date range (e.g., this year)
Export the report as a CSV file

Save the file as timecamp_export.csv in your working directory.

Step 2: Set Up DuckDB

Install DuckDB if you haven't already, then launch it in your terminal:

duckdb timecamp_analysis.db

Step 3: Load and Explore Your Data

First, let's take a look at the structure of your exported data:

-- Query placeholder: Select first 10 rows to inspect data structure
SELECT * FROM 'timecamp_export.csv' LIMIT 10;

Check the total time tracked:

-- Query placeholder: Calculate total hours tracked in the dataset
SELECT [CALCULATION] FROM 'timecamp_export.csv';

Step 4: Categorize Development Activities

To calculate the percentage of dev time, you first need to identify which activities count as "development." This might include tasks tagged with keywords like "coding," "development," "bug fix," "feature," etc.

Create a view that categorizes your activities:

-- Query placeholder: Create view categorizing activities as dev vs non-dev
CREATE VIEW categorized_time AS
SELECT [COLUMNS],
    CASE
        WHEN [CONDITION] THEN 'Development'
        WHEN [CONDITION] THEN 'Meetings'
        WHEN [CONDITION] THEN 'Admin'
        ELSE 'Other'
    END AS activity_category
FROM 'timecamp_export.csv';

Step 5: Calculate Development Time Percentage

Now for the main calculation - determining what percentage of your time was spent on development:

-- Query placeholder: Calculate percentage of time spent on each category
SELECT 
    activity_category,
    [DURATION_CALCULATION] AS total_hours,
    [PERCENTAGE_CALCULATION] AS percentage
FROM categorized_time
GROUP BY activity_category
ORDER BY total_hours DESC;

Step 6: Break Down by Team Member

If you're analyzing team data, you'll want to see individual breakdowns:

-- Query placeholder: Calculate dev percentage per team member
SELECT 
    user_name,
    [DEV_TIME_CALCULATION] AS dev_hours,
    [TOTAL_TIME_CALCULATION] AS total_hours,
    [PERCENTAGE_CALCULATION] AS dev_percentage
FROM categorized_time
GROUP BY user_name
ORDER BY dev_percentage DESC;

Step 7: Trend Analysis Over Time

Understanding how your development time percentage changes over time can reveal important patterns:

-- Query placeholder: Calculate weekly dev percentage trends
SELECT 
    [DATE_GROUPING] AS week,
    [PERCENTAGE_CALCULATION] AS dev_percentage
FROM categorized_time
GROUP BY week
ORDER BY week;

Advanced Analysis: Project-Level Insights

You can also analyze development time at the project level:

-- Query placeholder: Calculate dev vs non-dev time per project
SELECT 
    project_name,
    activity_category,
    [TIME_CALCULATION] AS hours,
    [PERCENTAGE_CALCULATION] AS percentage_of_project
FROM categorized_time
GROUP BY project_name, activity_category
ORDER BY project_name, hours DESC;

Exporting Results

Once you've generated your insights, export them for sharing with stakeholders:

-- Query placeholder: Export results to CSV
COPY (
    [YOUR_ANALYSIS_QUERY]
) TO 'dev_time_analysis.csv' (HEADER, DELIMITER ',');

Tips for Better Analysis

1. Consistent Tagging: Ensure your team uses consistent tags or project naming conventions in TimeCamp. This makes categorization much easier.

2. Regular Exports: Schedule monthly or quarterly exports to track trends over time.

3. Custom Categories: Adjust the activity categories to match your organization's needs. You might want to separate "client communication," "code review," "testing," etc.

4. Combine with Other Data: DuckDB can join multiple CSV files. Consider combining your TimeCamp data with project budgets or sprint data for deeper insights.

Conclusion

By combining TimeCamp's data export with DuckDB's analytical power, you can gain deep insights into how your development time is distributed. Whether you're trying to reduce meeting overhead, justify headcount requests, or optimize team workflows, having concrete data on development time percentages is invaluable.

The best part? This entire analysis requires no database servers, no ETL pipelines, and minimal setup time. You can run this analysis ad-hoc whenever you need fresh insights.

Next Steps

Automate the export process using TimeCamp's API
Create a dashboard using your favorite visualization tool
Set up alerts when dev time percentage drops below a threshold
Compare dev time percentages across different teams or departments

Have you tried analyzing your time tracking data with SQL? Share your insights and queries in the comments below!

Note: The specific SQL queries will depend on your TimeCamp export structure and your organization's specific categorization needs. Adjust the placeholder queries according to your data schema.

obsidian

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Przemyśleć operating principles (limit 0.5h)

Notice: as of 2025-08-16 it's not reflecting current setup, as it's constantly evolving.

https://stephango.com/vault

Avoid splitting content into multiple vaults.
Avoid folders for organization.
Avoid non-standard Markdown.
Always pluralize categories and tags.
Use internal links profusely.
Use YYYY-MM-DD dates everywhere.
Use the 7-point scale for ratings.
Keep a single to-do list per week.

PARA

para-areas

topic
para-daily
para-meetings
v 2026
- 04
  - 10
    v para-people
    v para-projects

RAG

python3 -m venv ~/khoj-venv
MAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_METAL=on" ~/khoj-venv/bin/pip install 'khoj[local]'
CMAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_METAL=on" ~/khoj-venv/bin/pip install 'khoj[local]'
~/khoj-venv/bin/pip install --upgrade pip
ource "$HOME/.cargo/env" && CMAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_METAL=on" ~/khoj-venv/bin/pip install 'khoj[local]'
rm -rf ~/khoj-venv && /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.12 -m venv ~/khoj-venv
source "$HOME/.cargo/env" && CMAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_METAL=on" ~/khoj-venv/bin/pip install 'khoj[local]'

cd ~/khoj-venv
source ~/khoj-venv/bin/activate
USE_EMBEDDED_DB="true" khoj --anonymous-mode

Direction

I just like the idea to write in some safe, permanent place. I could use physical notebooks, but I prefer files available everywhere.
One place to have personal to-dos.
One place to my diary.
One place to my goals and dreams. When remembering about my life principles.
One place to my knowledge. When doing research.
One place to my writing and future book.
One place to my reference.
One place to my life principles. When deciding what to do.
One place for my projects and documentation.
Easily retrievable knowledge - just in time.‚

Folders structure ideas

Current:

archive
- assets
- bases
- books
- diary & logs
- notes with limited ttls
- person
- personal projects
- readwise
- reference & howtos
- searchable messy knowledge
- snippets
- templates
- wwww
periodic
- daily
- weekly
- monthly
personal projects
work

Previous:

inbox
areas
periodic
timecamp
projects
archive
- assets
- www
- projects
- templates
Projects/ → Active work (e.g., “Blog Posts,” “Marketing Plan”)
Areas/ → Ongoing responsibilities (e.g., “Health,” “Finances”)
Resources/ → Reference materials (e.g., “Book Notes,” “Coding Tips”)
Archive/ → Completed or inactive items

📂 Fleeting Notes/ → Quick ideas & temporary thoughts
📂 Literature Notes/ → Notes from books, articles, podcasts
📂 Permanent Notes/ → Well-processed knowledge notes
📂 Index/ → High-level structure for quick access

Customization

Ctrl-a Jump to beginning of block
Ctrl-e Jump to end of block
Ctrl-u search

Look & Feel

My own Minimalistic theme (small changes to Default theme)
Hider plugin to hide some elements2
Font-size 14px
Color #FCB828
Translucent window
Show inline title, hide ribbon, hide tab title bar

Plugins

obsidian-ragsody

Used a lot

Recent Notes - my own
Tasks
Quick Switcher++
Periodic Notes
Outliner
Hider
Git
Calendar
Auto Link Title

Used sometimes

Advanced Tables
Better Search Views
Dataview
Digital Garden
Folder Notes
Footnote Shortcut
Iconize
Navigate Cursor History
Numerals
Omnisearch
Readwise Official

Workflow

Keyboard shortcuts whenever I can, setup as similar as posible to vscode
Git for backups, iClooud for synchronisation
Tasks should be only in single place with dataview attributes for completion time. How? Use Tasks plugin to create dynamic views. Where? Project have full tasks list. What about periodical tasks? Only those can be copied many times, but preffered to link them in processes.

Dev

Release your plugin with GitHub Actions - Developer Documentation
Issues · kamil-rudnicki/obsidian-recent-notes
Releases · kamil-rudnicki/obsidian-recent-notes

ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/obsidian-recent-notes" "/Users/kamil/Developer/obsidian-vault/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-recent-notes"

ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/obsidian-recent-notes" "/Users/kamil/Developer/obsidian-vault/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-recent-notes"
ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/hot-reload" "/Users/kamil/Developer/obsidian-vault/.obsidian/plugins/hot-reload"


# MAIN 2026-01-05
ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/khoj/src/interface/obsidian" "/Users/kamil/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ObsidianCloud2/.obsidian/plugins/khoj"
ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/hot-reload" "/Users/kamil/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ObsidianCloud2/.obsidian/plugins/hot-reload"

ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/obsidian-recent-notes" "/Users/kamil/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ObsidianCloud2/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-recent-notes"
ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/obsidian-time-logs" "/Users/kamil/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ObsidianCloud2/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-time-logs"
ln -s "/Users/kamil/Developer/hot-reload" "/Users/kamil/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ObsidianCloud2/.obsidian/plugins/hot-reload"
ln -s "/Users/kamil/Documents/Developer/obsidian-sample-plugin" "/Users/kamil/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ObsidianCloud2/.obsidian/plugins/personal-productivity"

# RELEASE [Release your plugin with GitHub Actions - Developer Documentation](https://docs.obsidian.md/Plugins/Releasing/Release+your+plugin+with+GitHub+Actions)
npm run version
git tag -a 1.4.5 -m "1.4.5"
git push origin 1.4.5
# [Releases · kamil-rudnicki/obsidian-recent-notes · GitHub](https://github.com/kamil-rudnicki/obsidian-recent-notes/releases)

Obsidian to audiobook

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Fun little project: https://github.com/kamil-rudnicki/obsidian-to-audiobook

Transform your Obsidian knowledge vault into professionally narrated audiobooks. This tool uses AI to weave your markdown notes into engaging narratives with customizable writing styles - from ancient philosophy to modern storytelling. Features multiple TTS providers (OpenAI, ElevenLabs), batch processing, and intelligent content organization.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/1pzc3wd/i_made_a_tool_that_turns_your_obsidian_vault_into/

5 błedów które zrobiłem przy nawadnianiu działki

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Sianie trawy. Okazuje się że nie jest to takie oczywiste. Dobre nawodnienie to klucz. Straciłem już na to z 60h...

Gdybym jeszcze raz miał to robić:

Zrobiłbym strefy po maks 4-5 zraszaczy. Łączenie liniowe jest ok. Więcej zraszaczy braknie ciśnienia.
Zrobiłbym strefę nr. 1, uruchomił ją i dopiero robił kolejną strefę obserwując gdzie dosięga woda, i tak dalej.
Czym mniej złączek, trójników tym lepiej - np. sterowniki bezpośrednio do kranu jeżeli nie będzie często używany inaczej.
Zakupy
1. Średnica wew. przepływu wody najlepiej powyżej 15mm+ (standardowe szybkozłączki mają 9mm) - produkty jak Gardena Profi-System
2. Węże tylko 3/4 cala
3. Trójniki do kranów tylko bez 90 stopni załamania (np. Bächlein Y jest ok), najlepiej kulkowe zamykania

Problemy:

Nie wiedziałem że trzeba walczyć o przepływ/ciśnienie wody (np. unikając zwężeń, złączek poniżej 9mm, itp). Mam 4 bary w kranie + pompe w zbiorniku.
Nie wziąłem pod uwagę że wszelkiego rodzaju przyłączki będą zmniejszać przepływ wody
Nie wiedziałem że przepływ/ciśnienie wody jest tak kluczowe, bo determinuje czy zraszacze w ogóle się obracają i jaki mają zasięg
Nie uwzględniłem tego rysując strefy na kartce, przez co są miejsca bez podlewania

Produkty

Tak:

Gardena Profi-system

Jest ok, ale

Kontroler Cellfast Chronos Ideal (potrzebuje baterie alkaiczne AA, a nie ładowane)
Zraszacze
- Cellfast Ideal 51-635 3/4
- IDEAL CELLFAST 52-060
- Gardena 8135-20 impulsowy

Test z przepływem

28 sekund do napełnienia do chwytów z: czarnym Cellfast poczwórnym plus niebieski programator
?? sekund do napełnienia do chwytów z: trójnik Bächlein plus niebieski programator
?? sekund do napełnienia do chwytów z: kran plus niebieski programator
?? sekund do napełnienia do chwytów z: kran sam

Co kiedy

obieg kran na podwórku 1 - 12:00 co 6h na 12 min (zraszacze przy tarasie)
obieg kran w garażu 1 - 12:15 co 6h na 8 min (zraszacze przy płocie sąsiadki)
obieg kran na podwórku 2 - 12:30 co 6h na 18 min (zraszacze na środku)
ręcznie zigbee napełnianie zbiornika na deszczówkę

Zużycie wody

355.08 - 2026-05-27 19:23 (START)
356.00 - 2026-05-27 19:50
357.92 - 2026-05-28 18:10
359.55 - 2026-05-28 19:00
360.86 - 2026-05-29 13:28 ► 363

361.5 13:46
367.77 - 2026-05-31 18:28
375.33 - 2026-06-02 19:02
376.55 - 2026-06-03 07:10 (po dwóch cyklach)
385.44 - 2026-06-07 11:48
403.35 17 czerwca
428.64 28 czerwca 10:11

Kosiarka

Elektryczna: NAC LE18-42-PI-G - 42cm - mulczowanie - 564 zł 👈
Automatyczna:

mova lidax ultra 1000 (nowszy i lepszy) (około 4400 zł)
mammotion yuka mini (lepszy od sagway)
segway navimow i108e lub
Akumulatorowa: DeWalt DCMWSP156N lub STIGA Combi 753 SQ AE - ponad 2000 zł
Spalinowa: odpada, tylko do ogromnych trawników

tools

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Last update: 2024-10-05T08:34:00.000+02:00

Hardware

	Model	Why	Used
Microphone for noisy environment at home	EPOS Impact 1000	Better than Jabra engage 55, poly voyager 5200 UC, great kids cancelling features, physical mute/unmute	??
Microphone on-the-go	Airpods Pro 2	For everyday use, always with me for convinience	2h per day
Microphone for desk	Samson Q2U USB	I spend a lot of time on the meetings, so good microphone makes me look more professional.	twice per week
Computer	Macbook Air 2023
Phone	iPhone 13 Pro
Car	VW Touran
Camera		Someday: insta360 / opus c1 or iphone

Software

AI
- Jan AI assistant MacOS desktop app
Meetings
- Collaborative Code Editor - Collaborative Code Editor
Legal
- [An All-In-One Agreements Platform | Agree.com](https://agree.com/?ref=producthunt
Dictation
- Voice Dictation Powered by AI | Willow Voice

Services

Audible
Storytel

Wishlist

Diagramming
- https://mermaid.live/
Reporting & analytics (low code)
- https://evidence.dev
- https://observablehq.com/
Files
- LocalSend - send files locally (Airdrop alternative)
Avatar
- RenderNet - Create AI images with Unmatched Control
DB
- GitHub - drawdb-io/drawdb: Free, simple, and intuitive online database design tool and SQL generator. Show HN: Online database diagram editor | Hacker News
AI
- Speech to Text API | Speech Recognition Service
Dev
- Kusho - Never test your APIs manually again programowanie
https://metroretro.io
https://usabilityhub.com UX UI
https://pfpmaker.com/?ref=producthunt Make an awesome profile picture from any photo

AI & Machine Learning

https://www.synthesia.io - AI video creation platform - voice over & avatar
https://fireflies.ai - automate meetings notes
https://murf.ai - text to voice
https://github.com/openai/whisper - speech to text
- whisper "file" --model medium --language Polish

Programming

https://deno.land

System tools

NeighborHoodShare: Ditch the Cloud, Share Nearby. AirDrop alternative

SaaS alternative

productivity-hacks

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Productivity hacks

If I spend most of the time in front of the screen and keyboard (8h daily x 200 days x 60 years = 96 000 hours), I can learn some quick tips & tricks. Why not!

Keyboard

The goal is to use keyboard instead of touchpad as much as possible.

Keyboard shortcuts
Learn standard Visual Studio Code keyboard shortcuts, and use them everywhere possible, like in Obsidian.

CMD+X — cut entire line.
CMD+SHIFT+K - delete line.
CMD+D - select current work.

Use dictation whenever possible instead of typing. It can save hundreds of hours in your lifetime, probably.

Vimari for Safari:

"hintToggle": "f",
"newTabHintToggle": "shift+f",
"scrollUp": "k",
"scrollDown": "j",
"scrollLeft": "h",
"scrollRight": "l",
"scrollUpHalfPage": "u",
"scrollDownHalfPage": "d",
"goToPageTop": "g g",
"goToPageBottom": "shift+g",
"goToFirstInput": "g i",
"goBack": "shift+h",
"goForward": "shift+l",
"reload": "r",
"tabForward": "w",
"tabBack": "q",
"closeTab": "x",
"openTab": "t"

Raycast:

set CMD+OPTION+1,2,3,4,5 for each app from Dock to quickly open an app

Siri

Start a voice memo to quickly record thought

Taskbar

Day Progress — Sindre Sorhus
MeetingBar
AutoCollapse

Other

Health
- LookAway

Personal Productivity

https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/time-management-techniques-that-actually
- Use your calendar for to-dos ► tried and didn't work for me, problem with rescheduling later and later and slots for meetings
- If it takes less than two minutes, just do it ► true!
- Keep a “waiting for” list ► true!
- Keep Do Not Disturb mode on ► true!
- Keep work async ► true!, but not always
- Make a rule: No meetings before as late as possible
- Each morning, write down just 1-3 things you have to accomplish that day ► have to try
- Set up, and fiercely protect, regular deep work time ► have to try
- Get a virtual assistant to take on low-impact work ► have to try
- Say no more often, even when it’s hard ► have to try Odmowa mówienie nie

now

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

This is a now page.

Now

Updated 2026-08-15 from my home in Poland.

Building TimeCamp - trying to get rid of my operational tasks to focus on leveraged projects
Raising kids - they grow so quick...
Trying to find my new way...

amplitude

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

How to implement Amplitude in one day?

We are using Amplute for couple of years and it's working great for us at TimeCamp. Here are details of practicies we follow.

Design

Make a list of events you want to track.
There should be up to 30 events at the beggining - don't create an event for every little thing, move such micro events as attributes.
Use consistent naming convenction for example Time Entry Created .

Examples:

Time Entry Created
Timer Started
Report Generated
Task Created
Account Created

Make a list of user attributes. (30 minutes)

Examples:

Is Account Owner
Account Id
User Id
Account Plan
Country
Account Role
Language
NPS
Refferer
Landing Page

PS. Don't include email or other user identification for GDPR pseudonymization.

Implement

When user create an account send event Account Created in the backend programming language using API to Amplitude.

Create a simple function in your programming language in the backend like sendAmplitudeEvent(string name, array params, int userId) and trigger it for every place you want to track. It can trigger rabbitMQ or similar tasks queue, so your source code doesn't have to wait for Amplitude API response.

Inside this function also update user attributes with current values. But don't do this every time you fire an event to Amplitude. Limit updating user attributes for example once per day.

Reporting

Create master Dashboard with basic reports like:

New free trials per day
Weekly active users
Top events
Number of active users by plan
Retention
Main funnel

What is limiting people

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

WORK IN PROGRESS & PUBLIC

Wasting time (vs. thinking, playing, resting, building, learning)
Worrying (when it's unhealthy and it's about something you can not control)
Being moody (waiting for perfect moment)
Fixed mindset (this is who I am, I can not change, there is no hope, black and white thinking without gray)
Not searching for good feelings, inspirations, dreaming
Doing things that will be like technical debt
Ego

US bank for startups that have EUR currency

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Name	Costs	FDIC insured	IBAN
Wise	Cost to send EUR wire from 0.43%	Not FDIC insured	Yes
Airwallex		No (funds safeguarded)	Yes
Revolut Business	0/month, 5 EUR wire transfer	No (funds safeguarded)	Yes
Truly Financial	$100/month	No (funds safeguarded)	Yes
Requirements:

remote setup for non-residents
integration with QuickBooks
EUR account with IBAN

Nice to have:

FDIC insured

Bank that DO NOT meet the cryteria:

Brex - they don't have EUR account for US companies
Mercury - they don't have EUR account for US companies

Thinking about life goals

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Let's start with some questions. How to write life goals? How to make them interesting and impactful and clear? How to feel better thanks to them?

Life contains up to 80 years. So about 60 yearly gaols note.

It would be very nice to see what I was thiking years ago about the future.
It would be nice to have sustinc picture about goals for current year (on one page).

And I was wrong about creating those goals for current year and future years.

Method 1

Create a note for each year. Add bullet points to current or next year (only couple of bullet points). Add bullet points to some note in the long future.

Method 2

Create a note for each year. Add bullet points to current or next year. In the same note for current year add section "When I will be XX years old" (some distant future). You can copy this section from last year, revisit it, improve it, change it. ^[1]

Benefits of second method is that

I plan current year and I see long term goals
Evolution tracking: Long terms goal evolve. See how your vision of "age XX" changes over time. Understand your growth and changing priorities.

Method 2 is superior because it creates a living document that captures both your current intentions and evolving long-term vision, making your goals more meaningful and your future self more grateful for the insight into past thinking.

# 2025 Goals

## This Year's Focus
- [3-5 key goals with specific outcomes]

## When I'm 45 (2035)
- [Copy from last year, then revise]
- [Note what changed and why]

PS. Types of goals

one time events (build a house, have 2 weeks retreat)
habits (meditate 200 times a year)
feelings (peace, happy atmospehe at home)
learnings

Currently I write what I would like to have in life when I will be 50+ years old (I'm 37). ↩︎

MacOS Productivity

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Apps & Configuration

brew install voiceink
brew install timecamp
brew install tunnelblick
brew install obsidian
brew install meetingbar
brew install modern-csv
brew install cyberduck
brew install pritunl
brew install jan
brew install figma
brew install git
brew install node
brew install zsh
brew install pipx
brew install ffmpeg
brew install slack
brew install --cask transmission
brew install --cask whatsapp
brew install "zsh-autosuggestions"
brew install "zsh-completions"
brew install "zsh-syntax-highlighting"
brew install "zsh-autocomplete"
brew install google-cloud-sdk
brew install localsend
brew install cursor
brew install raycast
brew install google-chrome
brew install postman
brew install imageoptim
brew install bitwarden
brew install docker
brew install zoom
brew install ngrok
brew install clickhouse
brew install duckdb
brew install tableplus
brew install tailscale
brew install the-unarchiver
brew install typescript
brew install --no-quarantine glance-chamburr
brew install poedit
brew install anydesk
brew install uv
brew install sqlite
brew install discord
brew install cyberghost-vpn
# to change default app in Finder (see commands below)
brew install duti 
# to see yaml as text file in Finder (qlmanage -r to apply)
brew install highlight
# better CMD-TAB
brew install contexts
# macos uses pico
brew install nano

#oh-my-zsh
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

# Smaller gap in taskbar
defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing -int 8 
# Show the path bar in the Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder "ShowPathbar" -bool "true" && killall Finder 
# Keep folders on top in Finder
defaults write com.apple.finder "_FXSortFoldersFirst" -bool "true" && killall Finder 
# Keep folders on top on Desktop
defaults write com.apple.finder "_FXSortFoldersFirstOnDesktop" -bool "true" && killall Finder
# Three finger drag using trackpad 
defaults -currentHost write NSGlobalDomain com.apple.trackpad.threeFingerSwipeGesture -int 1 
# Prefer tabs
defaults write -g AppleWindowTabbingMode -string always
# Use list view in all Finder windows by default
# Four-letter codes for the other view modes: `icnv`, `clmv`, `glyv`
defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "Nlsv"
# Disable the warning before emptying the Trash
defaults write com.apple.finder WarnOnEmptyTrash -bool false
# Expand the following File Info panes:
# “General”, “Open with”, and “Sharing & Permissions”
defaults write com.apple.finder FXInfoPanesExpanded -dict \
        General -bool true \
        OpenWith -bool true \ 
# Other
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
defaults write com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad Clicking -bool true
defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad Clicking -bool true
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXSortFoldersFirst -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder FXDefaultSearchScope -string "SCcf"
defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool false

# Dev
npm install -g appdmg
brew install php
brew install gh
gh auth login
git config --global user.name "Kamil Rudnicki"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"
brew install --cask sf-symbols

# Change default apps
mdls -name kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier -r /Applications/Cursor.app
duti -s com.todesktop.230313mzl4w4u92 public.yaml all
duti -s com.todesktop.230313mzl4w4u92 public.json all
duti -s com.todesktop.230313mzl4w4u92 .log all
duti -s com.todesktop.230313mzl4w4u92 .md all

# nano
nano -V
echo 'include "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/nano/NANO_VERSION_NUMBER/share/nano/*.nanorc"'>> ~/.nanorc

# .zshrc
source /opt/homebrew/share/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
source /opt/homebrew/share/zsh-autocomplete/zsh-autocomplete.plugin.zsh
source /opt/homebrew/share/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
export PATH="$PATH:/Users/kamil/.local/bin"
alias python='python3'
alias pip='pip3'
alias nano='/opt/homebrew/bin/nano'
export EDITOR="/opt/homebrew/bin/nano"
export VISUAL="$EDITOR"

# .ssh/config 
nano ~/.ssh/config 
Host *
  UseKeychain yes

# No longer used
# brew install jordanbaird-ice
# brew install transmission
# brew install iina
# brew install qlmarkdowno

Python

# install using brew

# Initialize project
uv init

# Add dependencies from requirements.txt
uv add -r requirements.txt

# Run your script
uv run python script.py
uv run script.py

Useful commands

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | pbcopy # Copy public key
system_profiler SPPowerDataType | grep -i "Wattage" # Get power adapter W

Disk space

brew install --cask grandperspective

rm -rf ~/.bun/install/cache
rm -rf ~/Developer/time-tracker/electron-app/out
rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/Slack/Cache
rm -rf ~/jan
uv cache clean
npm cache clean --force
brew cleanup

# CRONTAB
36 * * * * uv cache clean >/dev/null 2>&1
38 * * * * npm cache clean --force >/dev/null 2>&1

Data exploration

clickhouse local --query "DESCRIBE file('*.parquet', 'Parquet')"
clickhouse local --query "SELECT * FROM file('*.parquet', 'Parquet') LIMIT 10"
duckdb -c "SELECT * FROM '*.parquet.gz' LIMIT 500;" | cat

Non-obvious Keyboard Shortcuts

ctrl-a & FN+left arrow to move to the beginning of a line
ctrl-e & FN+right arrow to move to the end of a line.
cmd-delete to delete entire line of text behind cursor.
ctrl-k to “kill” an entire line
ctrl-y to “yank” it back
option-delete delete word before
ctrl-o add new line
Delete Word Behind Cursor ⌥⇧← Delete
Jump to** **Beginning of Line ⌘←
So, that's basically ing Cmd+C for the files you want to cut and then Cmd+Opt+V in the folder you want to paste to
https://support.apple.com/en-hk/HT201236
https://macautomationtips.com/how-to-type-faster-with-keyboard-maestro/

RAYCAST:
Hyper + 2: mute/unmute microphone
Hyper + 7: Calendar
Hyper + X: Google Chat
Hyper + C: Google Chrome
Hyper + M: Messages
Hyper + O: Obsidian
Hyper + T: TablePlus
Hyper + D: Developer (Cursor)
Hyper + E: Email

Apple Shortcuts

Start TimeCamp Timer

Start & stop TimeCamp timer using Siri, whenever you are.

Quickly start TimeCamp timer (also using Siri) with a provided note.
If any timer is running it will be stopped automatically.

Start timer with text input: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/da937b08791447848fcb9e22a2d08d0b
Start timer with dictation: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/e4fa4e2d5a8f43759b6b6e23a995b631
Stop timer: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/defe0a28a16f498d88e5c91dc6894fec

Transcribe Voice Memo for Free Using OpenAI Whisper on MacOS Shortcuts

Download Apple Shortcut:
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/c1c96414530c4b9588b4ece3ca0d5316

You have to install Whisper (https://github.com/openai/whisper) on your MacOS first.

Example tutorials:

I tracked every hour in 2024 as TimeCamp CEO and here are the results

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

“There are constant pressures toward unproductive and wasteful time-use.”
– Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive, 1967

TLDR

I tracked all my time for a year (5995h, without sleep) using a calendar into 15 types of activities. I'm pretty happy about my time allocation. But have some insights about relocating time...

Why I Started Time Tracking

As the CEO of TimeCamp, a time tracking software company, I wanted to practice and gain deeper insights into my own productivity patterns. I was curious: where does my time actually go each day?

My Time Tracking Method

After some experimentation, I found a system that worked for me:

I used Google Calendar and Apple Calendar rather than real-time timers (which I found created too much cognitive load in my case)
I updated my calendar a few times daily, using 15-minute increments
I integrated TimeCamp computer usage tracking as iCal into Apple Calendar to help remember what I was doing when I forgot: the integration filled out my calendar with the time blocks representing apps/sites I was using
The entire process took me less than 5 minutes per day

This approach worked because I already lived in my weekly calendar, making it easy to visually see where my time was going. The TimeCamp integration automatically copied my calendar to my timesheet and assigned tasks based on automations I’ve created.

What are the categories?

After researching time tracking methods and analyzing posts in the r/dataisbeautiful subreddit, I settled on these categories:

Work
Kids
Morning routine (getting up, getting kids ready, etc)
Personal tasks (personal tasks or hobby)
Waste (useless scrolling, cheap dopamine)
Chores
Other
Travelling
Relaxation
Home projects
Family
Sick
Eating
Education
Meditation (I'm doing Vipassana meditation)

Key Insights from My Time Tracking

Generally, I'm pleased with my time allocation, but I discovered some areas for improvement:

Having to enter activities in the "waste" category made me more conscious about reducing unproductive time
The app Clearspace helped me significantly reduce cheap dopamine-seeking behaviors
I identified an opportunity to redirect hundreds of hours from "waste," "morning routine," and "chores" categories into more meaningful areas like "kids," "relaxation," and "spirituality"

Tools I Created

To help analyze my data, I created a small Chrome Plugin that cleans up Google Calendar data and generates statistics. You can find it on GitHub and Chrome Plugin Marketplace.

Full Reports

For those interested in the complete breakdown:

Bonus: My Top Computer Apps & Websites

Data source: TimeCamp usage tracking, 2024

How I use TimeCamp time tracking software?

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

How I use TimeCamp time tracking software

Time is my most precious asset I have. I logged all my computer activities since 2009.

Starting 2023

I use several methods to track time

I'm using timer. At the end of the day and week I fix the issues on my timesheet. As sometime I forget to switch the timer.

I use those methods

Apple Watch - very quick to switch timer!
Siri Shortcut
Apple Shortcut
Calendar Timesheet - I see where my time goes at a glance, where are issues on my timesheet
Desktop App

Personally I track time to several categories

Sleep
Work
Family and Friends
Productive and Health
Waste
Relaxation and Leisure
Hobbies and Skills

2025-05

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

✅ From reluctant founder to $2B valuation: The story of Persona | Rick Song (Co-founder and CEO)

From reluctant founder to $2B …–In Depth – Apple Podcasts
attributes of good businesses

Summary

Core believe that founder always have to be engaged in sales. Always understand what what customers problems are. Translate those into product. founder-led-sales customer discovery
Consultative type of selling and SaaS. He spoke very interestingly about how, in order to sell his product, he actually offered a custom software development service tailored to the client's needs. enterprise sales strategy
There are three types of businesses: 1. brand new technology (Cursor) 2. compete against giant (Figma, Notion) 3. Legacy space out-execute strategy new business
Clay their overnight success actually took six years of constant iteration, product discovery, and technological/cultural foundation-building before they suddenly found product-market fit customer discovery

“It seems like one of the dreams in building a software business is if you can be your customer's trusted confidant in and around your space and that they're constantly coming, when they think of a problem, they think of coming to you with that problem and that's sort of how you get NRR that's sort of top in class, I think. I think that's definitely the dream, but I think in practice, the hardest part of that is the connection back to engineering and product and design, like the culture to support such a thing. Cause like, if a customer comes to you and they're like, hey, this is a burning problem. Effectively, what that means is yeah, the roadmap we had, ignore that, that's gone, right?”

“And those three categories is either number one, it's a brand new technology, and you're going to just compete with every other company trying to figure out how to like, you know, like, you know, take advantage of this technology. I mean, AI was this, there was blockchain prior to that. And I mean, for AI, there are so no matter how you look at an application of agent, no matter how insane, there is someone else also doing it. And they are just as eager, just as excited, working just as hard. I mean, I hear how hard some of these AI companies are working now. And it's crazy. I mean, they are, it is so, so, so competitive. And you see all of them kind of going at it. We saw the same kind of emerging blockchains. There's so much talent. The second kind of category, I think, that you have to go down. Figma is my favorite example of this. It's a company in which you effectively compete against a giant that just, it seems insane to compete against that giant. To me, it would be like saying, I'm going to redo Google Docs or beat Microsoft their own game. And there are a couple of companies that have that.
Notion's done that, Figma's done that, in which it's a huge up-front investment. And you're going to go on that journey and believe that with your under-resourced kind of product, you will be able to eventually take on something that has infinite more resources than you. And that's a really tough game because I think it's like, usually those type of products, it requires like four or five here, kind of like heads down, sabbatical kind of thing. You'll go at it. I think the third category is the category we're in, which is a legacy space in which there's a bunch of competitors, so many competitors. Everyone's still been at it for a long time and you will out execute. But the underlying theme for all of these, the execution has become more important than ever and it's not so much about like idea discovery or like untapped market discovery anymore. It's just a question of pick your poison on how difficult it will be, but I think every space now is really challenging.

What does execution mean? Like, I feel like it's a[…]”

“So I met with Kareem from Clay yesterday and we both isolate on one thing because I actually asked him for some advice too because I think Kareem's journey is truly, truly incredible. And like, you know, just to give a recap of it, Clay, I mean, right before we were talking, like they didn't start off with the product they have now. And unlike for many other startups, they went through constant iteration, a lot of discovery before they finally, like just overnight found like the fit and it all worked out. But like even all the technology, there are a lot of things they built plus like the cultural learnings and everything that took, I mean, six years plus probably like laid a foundation there. When I asked Kareem at that point, like, don't you get through it? Like that seems insane.”

✅ Focus is the ultimate growth lever

focus growth strategy attributes of good businesses

Deep research on the topic: ChatGPT - Focus as Growth Lever

✅ From Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career: How have I been complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want? | Jerry Colonna (CEO of Reboot, executive coach, former VC), May 8, 2025

https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/lennys-podcast-product-growth-career/id1627920305?i=1000706795176&r=1061

“So let's take a step back. The fear is, if I can reflect back to your original question, the fear is, if I go there, I don't know what's going to happen as a consequence of that. Right?

If I pause and ask myself, is this relationship working out for me? I might end up leaving this relationship. If I pause and ask myself, if this career isn't working for me, I might leave my career.

And the good news, bad news is, that's true. That is absolutely true. And if we look at some of the other observations we were making before, like anxiety and depression, we have this belief system that if I pay no attention to the thing that I'm afraid of, it's somehow going to magically go away. If we pay no attention to the source of discomfort, it's somehow going to go away. And that's not actually how life works. More often than not, what we do is we respond to the source of challenge, whether it's discomfort in our relationship, whether it's a discomfort in the way my life has unfolded.” wellbeeing strach dyskomfort

✅ 442: Prodoscore: Creating a New SaaS Category No One Asked For - with Sam Naficy

442: Prodoscore: Creating a Ne…–The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship – Apple Podcasts
case study

Narrow ICP focus (his previous business as an example)
Selling by telling stories sales story sprzedaż
For C-suite send weekly reports zarządzanie menadżerami
They have all standard marketing/sales - SEO, outbound, cold calls, content marketing, PR go to market
Employee engagement/disagement - attraction risk - We are able 90 days before employee with 90% certainty they will exit
- Burnout
- Checkout
- We are able 90 days before employee with 90% certaintinty they will attrite
- To potencial attriction (leaving, or other thing like child is sick) - motivate engage or exit him

We do none of that. And that was Chris' brilliance, our founders' brilliance, was that this has nothing to do with clicks and big brother and surveillance. We're only capturing the APIs of cloud tools. If you've got Spotify in the background and listening to music, we don't care, right? If you've got a YouTube channel and you're meditating, none of our business. We're only capturing data that is consigned to your corporate email.

So I see what Sam does. I have, when I wake up in the morning, I have in my dashboard AI driven indicated actions for my day. How do I work my day to day to be more productive? How do I compare to my peers in the exact same role? So we bucket employees in the same exact peer group, sales, marketing, customer success, developers, engineers, and we compare them against their peers and give them next indicated actions of how they can improve.

Look at its base, it provided simple visibility to what the employees were doing, right? Visibility into, remember, we're connecting through the APIs, we're capturing all the activity in email, Slack, CRM, calendar, chat, LinkedIn Navigator, DocuSign, very, very basic stuff. And what has evolved, I mean, the transformation of the product in the last 12 months has been remarkable, let alone the last three years. Part of it is just the AI engine we've built and large language models that are curated and specific[…]”

But at the same time, what was the reaction from employees with those early customers? Because it feels like, whether they understand it or not, it feels like there's some kind of surveillance going on. And employees can be very good at sabotaging new projects if they really want to, right?
So, what was the reaction and was it overall neutral, positive, negative?
Absolutely. Initially, there was pushback. There was pushback from the employees concerned that this is Big Brother, this is surveillance.
And again, I go back 20 years ago, 25 years ago, to that young little young Sam of 27 years old, however old I was. I remember vividly, vividly, employees pushing back, franchisees and owners of these restaurants coming to us and say, oh my God, I can't do this. I love my employees.”

My cousin works here. My uncle works here. Don't bother us. And that story changed. If we are able to save the employee from an issue. So, this was our story, for example, and this obviously presented itself. If a customer comes in and gives you a $20 bill and demands $100 in change, starts screaming at the employee, right? Well, you have video analytics around that. The employee is exonerated there, right? The employee and that those kinds of stories became the groundswell that the next year when we went to a conference, franchisees would run to us. We need this. I'm opening two new stores immediately.

We went from zero customers to 90,000 locations. Subway worldwide deployed the solution. Worldwide, every store around the world.”

If we can empower employees to make the most out of their day and for themselves and for the employer, why not have a win-win? And I'll end with this. Our motto is this, provide flexibility with accountability. If we're allowing a hybrid remote workforce and allowing the employee to be at home at a Starbucks or whatever venue they choose, hey, we'll give you that flexibility. Give me some accountability. What better way to have that win-win solution and dynamic than a tool like Prodoscore?”

C-suite is most likely not going to be in the product. What we do for the C-suite is provide a weekly report. In that summary report says these seven people are at risk of attrition. These six people are not using the cloud tools. We are spending $1200 a month for each employee.

These six people are on excessive meetings. For example, I want my inside salespeople to have 90 percent of their meetings externally. If my inside salespeople have half their meetings internal, there is a problem, my friend. They're not selling. I don't want them to be on calls with marketing and with customer success. They got to do outbound. So we provided those and highlight those for the C-suite. So that's how we kind of bifurcate the utility of the product because as you said, it could be overwhelming. Overwhelming, right?

✅ From The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett: Former FBI Agent: If They Do This Please RUN! Narcissists Favourite Trick To Control You! They're Controlling You Like A Puppet!, Apr 21, 2025

https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/the-diary-of-a-ceo-with-steven-bartlett/id1291423644?i=1000704265044&r=5340

“And the minute you can be confident about one thing, now you can be confident about two things. And then you can be confident about three things. Is this nonsense that I often see people say, well, just come in and be confident?
I think that's nonsense. I think you have to learn, and your physiology has to learn to be confident about one thing. With me, I was confident in playing football.” confidence

“The other one was about your voice. Use a deeper voice and do not rise at the end of the sentence as if it's a question. Right. Let me talk about those. Don't try to reinvent what's successful. A confident person doesn't have to talk fast and doesn't talk high. I remember the first arrest I made and I said, stop, this is the FBI. My voice was, nobody was going to stop. Nobody. The guys that were with me said, Joe, you got to work on your voice. You have to have a command voice. Well, a command voice is down. voice

✅ From Philosophize This!: Episode #048 ... Adam Smith pt. 1 - Specialization, Jan 18, 2015

https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/philosophize-this/id659155419?i=1000332505932&r=1290

Self-interest and specilization ► we are living like kings, even better. philosophy economy psychology

“Consider for a second just how incredible it is that not only do we get a better product in 2015, but these professional athletes aren't doing this job because I'm a king and they're forced to, or because they're altruistic, you know, they're competing because they're just a bunch of nice guys that want society to have something to entertain themselves with. We don't have to wait around for any of that. They do it because it's in their own self-interest to give everything that they have in this area that they specialize in. By the way, this applies to everything that I mentioned in that long-winded example to the bartender that day. Cars, buildings, light fixtures, chef-prepared food, bar stools, TVs, entertainment channels, TV shows, and yes, even sports stars on those TV shows. Consider that just a few short generations ago, people would look at what we have at our fingertips on a daily basis, and it would be difficult for them not to think of us as god kings. That is pretty incredible. And it's only possible because of things like specialization and these self-interested bargains that we make with each other as...”

From The Tim Ferriss Show: #810: Terry Real — The Therapist Who Breaks All The Rules, May 8, 2025

https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/the-tim-ferriss-show/id863897795?i=1000706839787&r=5416

psychology relationships happiness związek

Here is a one-sentence summary for each concept:

Concept 1 (Intimacy and Gender Roles): Lacking intimacy is as harmful as heavy smoking, and achieving it necessitates moving beyond traditional gender roles to learn vital relational skills beneficial for health, longevity, and relationships.
Concept 2 (Masculinity and Giving): True masculinity involves men proactively asking "what's needed here," understanding that giving brings more happiness than receiving, and embracing empowerment, assertiveness, connection, and emotionality.
Concept 3 (Individual vs. Relational Empowerment): The next stage beyond individual empowerment ("I was weak, now I'm strong, go screw yourself") is relational empowerment, where strength is used to collaborate and mutually support each other as a team.
Concept 4 (Self-Esteem vs. Patriarchy): Healthy self-esteem stems from the inherent, equal worth of every individual, challenging patriarchal "one up, one down" thinking by focusing not only on lifting the disempowered but also on grounding the entitled.

Okay, here's a Twitter-style bullet point summary for each concept, with interlinks:

Intimacy is vital for health, as crucial as not smoking, and achieving it requires moving beyond traditional gender roles to improve your life, marriage, and children's future. 🔍 Relacje międzyludzkie, , związek, personal projects/family/dzieci, Ewolucja
Men should ask "what's needed here?" and act as empowered, assertive, and connected adults, because giving brings more profound and lasting happiness than receiving. 🏔️ goals, 🎖️ Mądrość, psychologia ludzi, szczęście, odpowiedzialność
A man should allow himself to be emotional and cultivate meaningful relationships as part of his mature, adult presence. emocje, 🔍 Relacje międzyludzkie, związek, siła
Moving from disempowerment to individual empowerment ("I was weak, now I'm strong, screw you") is just a phase; the next step is relational empowerment ("I'm strong, let's team up and support each other"). siła, praca zespołowa, team, relationships, Ewolucja, współpraca
Healthy self-esteem is an internal, democratic given—you are worthy simply because you exist—unlike patriarchy's constant "superior/inferior" ranking. psychologia ludzi, demokracja, swiatopoglad, wstyd, 🎖️ Mądrość
While we've focused on lifting those in the "one-down" (shame, inferiority) position, society must also address and dismantle the "one-up" (entitlement, grandiosity) stance. Krytykowanie, Narzekanie, bullshit, bycie bezpośrednim, balans, kultura-firmy

“We're designed to be intimate. Not being intimate, I know you do a lot of great work with health on your podcast. Not being intimate is as bad for your body as smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day. This is a hard black and white research. We are born to be intimate. Moving beyond traditional gender roles is the only way to get there. So stop whining, stand up and learn a few relational skills. It's good for you, it's good for your body, you'll live longer. It's good for your marriage and it's good for your children. And let me help you learn how to do this better. That's revolutionary. You got a lot of people out there. I'm so happy to be on this podcast with you truly. You got a lot of people out there. I'm mad as hell and I'm not putting up with it.”

“A man's question of the world is what's needed here. And I teach men to show up as men and not boys. What's needed here? You know, research on happiness is, I like black and white research. If you get a gift, you're happy. You get happier for a bit. If you give a gift, you're even happier and longer than if you get it. What men need to understand is it's good for us to be empowered, be assertive, and also to be connected and show up. And ask ourselves, what's needed here?”

Mówi też żeby jako facet pozwolić sobie być emocjonalny. Mieć relacje.

“In our culture, there's a lot of what I call individual empowerment. I was weak, now I'm strong, go screw yourself. I am woman, I have found my voice, hear me roar, no. And you get a lot of, I'm going to get into trouble, but too bad, you get a lot of people in that traditional feminine side of the equation. Doesn't matter what body you're in, you're as a fixer on that feminine side. You get a lot of, the people on the feminine side move from disempowerment to individual empowerment. I call it, I was weak, now I'm strong, go screw yourself. And everybody will cheer, mom, dad, therapist, 12 step sponsors, your man's group. No, relational empowerment is the next step. I was weak, now I'm strong, I'm going to go toe to toe with you. I'm going to tell you just what I want and need. Now listen to this. What could I give you to help you do that for me? Who sounds like that? We're a team. I love you. What do you need? Let's work together. That's the next step. And a lot of women, early stage feminism, move from disempowerment to[…]”

“It's what Pia called my great mentor, coming out from under the great lie, that a human being could be inherently superior or inferior to another human being. Healthy self-esteem, which I have to teach people in this culture, comes from the inside out. You're here, you're worthy, you're lovable, you're a good human being because you're breathing, period.
And your essential worth can't be added to, it can't be subtracted from. This is democracy. This is one person, one vote. We're all equal under the law until recently. Anyway, this is democracy, but we don't live like this. We live in the world of patriarchy, which is one up, one down, superior, inferior, better than, less than, all day long. And the one down, shame, inferiority, helplessness, defectiveness, unlovability, for 50 years, my field has focused on helping people come up from that one down. Good. But we've almost totally ignored helping people come down from the one up. Entitlement, anger, judgment, contempt, self-righteous indignation, all forms of grandiosity.”

Pages Worth Building: Via Negativa

Instead of trying to add more productive habits, start eliminating unproductive ones. To achieve happiness, look at what is causing you unhappiness, do not seek new sources of joy. The same logic applies to projects, habits, goals: consider asking which current commitments are draining your time, energy, or focus.
You could also include a daily negation query in your page -- to collect small, situational No's you jot down in your Daily Notes as they happen. Tag them with e.g. #refusal (or any tag you prefer), then pull them into a query. Odmowa mówienie nie priorytetyzacja

Fix the source of unhappiness: To find joy, remove what causes pain instead of chasing dopamine. happiness

Stop adding new productive habits—start removing unproductive ones. Identify what’s wasting time instead of chasing new routines. habit-tracking productivity minimalism
- Use when overwhelmed with too many to-dos or self-improvement hacks.
- Apply during burnout phases to simplify and reset.
To be happier, remove what's making you unhappy—don’t seek new pleasures. Subtract discomforts before adding delights. happiness stoicism wellbeing
- Useful in mood journaling or therapy to identify recurring drains.
- Apply when feeling low despite trying new positive routines.
Projects, habits, and goals should be evaluated by what drains your time, not what excites you. Eliminate commitments that cost energy. time-management goal-setting focus
- Reflect during weekly or quarterly reviews.
- Helps prioritize by subtraction, not addition.

marudzenie dziecka

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Marudzenie dziecka 3-latka

Marudzenie trzylatka to naturalny etap rozwoju, który może być wyzwaniem dla rodziców. Najskuteczniejsze taktyki obejmują konsekwentne ignorowanie jęczenia, wzmacnianie pozytywnych zachowań oraz naukę spokojnego wyrażania swoich potrzeb. Ważne jest, aby od razu nagradzać dziecko, gdy komunikuje się normalnym głosem, jednocześnie nie ulegając marudzeniu. Demonstrowanie odpowiedniego tonu głosu oraz pomoc w formułowaniu prośby mogą również pomóc w kształtowaniu lepszych nawyków komunikacyjnych.

Zachowanie spokoju i unikanie karania są kluczowe, ponieważ nadmierna reakcja może wzmocnić niepożądane zachowania. Ignorowanie marudzenia, o ile nie jest związane z prawdziwą potrzebą, oraz dbanie o rutynę dnia pomagają dziecku czuć się bezpiecznie i ograniczają frustrację. W przypadku emocji jak złość czy frustracja, warto okazać empatię i zapewnić wsparcie, jednocześnie ucząc dziecko radzenia sobie z trudnymi emocjami w sposób zdrowy i akceptowalny.

Taktyki pewne

Spraw by poprosił normalnym głosem i od razu mu daj o co prosi

^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] [^5
Never let whining successfully get them what they want. Show them it’s a poor strategy.

Spokojnym głosem zniż się do poziomu dziecka i poproś aby powiedziało spokojnym głosem co potrzebuje.
1. Daj przykład
2. Zapytaj "Jak się prosi o ciastko?"
3. I can't understand you when you whine. If you want to tell me how you feel, then I need you to use your regular voice.
4. I can't hear you when you whine. Ask for what you want in a normal voice and maybe I'll hear you better.
5. Use your strong, clear voice."
Uznaj że powiedziało spokojnym głosem i od razu daj o co prosi.
1. "Wow, what a lovely way to ask. That sounded so nice,"
2. Always show them the path that will get them what they want. Demonstrate the replacement behavior: “Say, ‘can I please have the orange cup?’” “Can I please have the Orange cup.” “Of course! Here you go!! Thank you for using your big kid voice.”

Nie daj mu uwagi

Once you know he knows that you understand talking better than whining, I would pretend not to hear whining but suddenly regain hearing when the whining stops. ^[1:1]
If you want to extinguish that behavior, you have to eliminate positive feedback to that behavior. In the old days, it would be negative feedback (spanking), but that's not recommended :) The best thing is to simply ignore it and make sure that behavior is not rewarded. Don't react by prodding or saying "I can't understand you when you're whining". If you direct your behavior-getting attention at the behavior you don't want, then of course you will get more of it.

Kontrargument:
Also, don't forget that growing pains is awfully confusing to a kid that age. No amount of "ignoring bad behavior" is going to solve that one. Oh, your kid is crying and whining because they get sharp pains and legs that ache for no reason. That's not bad behavior, that's a cry for affection and comfort and not a time they should be ignored. The trick as a parent is trying to figure out which whine or cry is genuine and which one is just a way to get what they want. When do they get a hug and when should they get disipline? That superpower comes with time and only by the people who are around them the most.

Przeczekaj, ale stosuj taktyki nawet jeżel nie działają aby tak nie robił mając 4+ lat

^[2:1] ^[3:1]

He grew out of it at 4 years old and is now a happy normal first grader with no behavior problems at school at all. There was nothing we did that made a difference, we just had to wait it out. ^[2:2]
I think that’s pretty developmentally appropriate. It is important to keep reinforcing that whining isn’t appropriate (by turning off the tv, not fulfilling the request etc) not so much because it’s going to eliminate the whining in the short term but more because you don’t want him to still be whining at 4/5 and beyond. ^[3:2]

Taktyki niepewne

Bądź nadmiernie empatytycznym

The best I have got is to empathize and be overly empathetic - "Oh my goodness, you feel so sad. That sock is really make you upset huh? Let's take a deep breath, count to three, then I will look at it". Labeling feelings seems to have helped keep his frustration level down. ^[1:2]

Pokaż jak wygląda jędzenie

"We won't listen to you when you're whining. You can either talk like a big girl/boy or go whine in your room." We made sure we demonstrated the difference between whining and normal talking so they couldn't use the excuse that they didn't know they were doing it. ^[4:1]
Demonstrate to your child how it sounds by whining back at them, suggests Hayward.

Nie pozwól na zbyt długie jęczenie

Put away the earplugs and take action. "Kids can whine all day, easily outlasting a parent who is trying to tune it out," says Rene Hackney, PhD, a developmental psychologist in Alexandria, Virginia. "The longer you let your child complain, the more determined she'll become to get her way."

Co nie działa

Krzyk i/lub kary nie działają.
Wyprowadzenie siebie z równowagi - ukrywaj emocje.
Mówienie "STOP"
Straight old school opposition. Straight to a stern "No whining or you go to time out!" right off the bat. ^[5]

Notatki

YouTube - Instrukcja: 5 kroków by dziecko przestało jęczeć

Jak jęczysz ja nie będę z tobą rozmawiać - taka reguła. Plus niewerbalny sygnał.
Kilka razy pokaż co znaczy jęczenie, ale nie przedrzeźniaj, nie rób zbyt często. "Nie mam ochoty rozmawiać, nie rozumiem." Można też nagrać i puścić mu potem.
Kamienna twarz. Nie wyprowadź się z równowagi.
Jęczy bo przynosi korzyści. Gdy jęczy to się zgadzam, a jak nie jęczy to się nie zgadzam. Co któryś raz. Nie może nic ugrać. Na sztywno nie ma siły we wszechświecie że dostanie co chce.
Jest niesamodzielne, wszystko wyręczam. W efekcie im dziecko jest bardziej niesamodzielne, im więcej robię za dziecko to będzie miało tendencje do bycia męczy bułą. Jeżeli dziecko jest w stanie robić kanapki, niech je robi.

Moje dziecko ciągle marudzi i płacze? Co to oznacza i jak można pomóc? - YouTube 🔥
W momencie jak płącze to sygnalizuje Ci problem. Warto żebyś podeszła i nawiązała z nim kontakt, że zwracasz uwagę i interesujesz się o co mu chodzi, na jego truność. A druga rzecz to inne sposoby jak radzić sobie z trudnymi emocjami. "jest ci przykro jak płaczesz, a co było było gdybyś się przykrył kocykiem"

Zrób coś z tym dzieckiem

Złość i histeria dziecka. 7 faktów, które musisz znać! - YouTube

Złość jest ok. Ale trzeba nauczyć się radzić.
- Złe: uspokój się, uczymy że złość niewłaściwa i nieakceptowana.
Złość jest taką samą emocją jak radość. - mamy prawdo do jej przeżywania
- Zmiast tłumić, to nauczyć opanować.
Czasami wystarczy dać czas.
Dzieci potrzebują bliskości, nie odrzucenia. Zgodnie ze współczesną metodą, dziecko przeżywające trudne emocje uczy się je regulawoać w zdrowy sposób poprzez bliskość rodzica. Potrzebuje milości, obecności i poczucia bezpieczeństwa. Wiedzą że rodzic jest obok i nie zostanie odrzucone.
Ataki histeriii zdarzają się prawie każdemu dziecku. Problem gdy ataki się pojawiają znowu i znowu.
Złość wymaga bezpiecznej przestrzeni. Wie że może się złościć. Jest nieprzyjemna ale bezpieczna.
Być obecnym i gotowym zareagować. Nie zawsze lecenie z pomocą i natychmiastowe przytulanie jest potrzebne.
Zadaniem rodzica jest nauczyć dziecko radzenia sobie samemu ze złością.
- To że dziecko się złości nie znaczy że robię coś źle. Potrzeba jest wiara że może sobie samo poradzić z własną złością.
- Nie bój się złości dziecka.

How to Stop Your Child’s Whining

Dawanie dobrego przykładu: Mów do dziecka spokojnym głosem, unikając podnoszenia tonu czy narzekania.
Wzmacnianie pożądanych zachowań: Chwal dziecko, gdy komunikuje się w odpowiedni sposób, aby zachęcić je do powtarzania takiego zachowania.
Ignorowanie marudzenia: Jeśli to możliwe, nie reaguj na marudzenie, aby dziecko zrozumiało, że taka forma komunikacji nie przynosi oczekiwanych rezultatów.
Nauka alternatywnych sposobów komunikacji: Pomóż dziecku wyrażać swoje potrzeby i emocje w bardziej akceptowalny sposób, ucząc je odpowiednich słów i zwrotów.
Utrzymywanie rutyny: Zapewnij regularny harmonogram posiłków, drzemek i aktywności, aby zminimalizować sytuacje prowadzące do marudzenia.

How To Deal With Whining Children

Nieuleganie prośbom wyrażanym marudzeniem: Uleganie wzmacnia to zachowanie, dlatego ważne jest konsekwentne odmawianie w takich sytuacjach.
Modelowanie odpowiedniego tonu głosu: Zachęcaj dziecko do używania "miłego głosu" i demonstruj, jak to powinno brzmieć.
Wzmacnianie pozytywnych zachowań: Chwal dziecko, gdy komunikuje się w odpowiedni sposób, co zachęca do powtarzania takiego zachowania.
Ustalanie rutyny: Regularny harmonogram dnia pomaga dzieciom czuć się bezpiecznie i może zmniejszyć skłonność do marudzenia.
Ignorowanie marudzenia: Jeśli dziecko kontynuuje marudzenie, mimo Twoich próśb, nie reaguj na to zachowanie, aby nie wzmacniać go swoją uwagą.

Sytuacje

SYTUACJA 1: Dziecko marudzi prosząc o coś JAK SIĘ ZACHOWAĆ:

Zniż się do poziomu dziecka
Spokojnym głosem poproś o powtórzenie prośby normalnym tonem
Gdy dziecko powie normalnie, od razu spełnij prośbę
Pochwal za właściwy sposób komunikacji

SYTUACJA 2: Dziecko ciągle marudzi mimo próśb JAK SIĘ ZACHOWAĆ:

Zachowaj spokój
Konsekwentnie ignoruj jęczenie
Nie zwracaj uwagi na marudzenie
Reaguj tylko gdy dziecko mówi normalnym głosem

SYTUACJA 3: Dziecko jest sfrustrowane/złe JAK SIĘ ZACHOWAĆ:

Okaż empatię
Zapewnij wsparcie
Pomóż nazwać emocje
Ucz radzenia sobie z trudnymi uczuciami

SYTUACJA 4: Dziecko komunikuje się prawidłowo JAK SIĘ ZACHOWAĆ:

Natychmiast nagradzaj właściwe zachowanie
Chwal za używanie normalnego głosu
Wzmacniaj pozytywne zachowania
Spełniaj prośby wyrażone odpowiednim tonem

CZEGO UNIKAĆ:

Krzyku i kar
Okazywania własnej frustracji
Mówienia "STOP"
Przedrzeźniania dziecka
Ulegania marudzeniu

3 year old whines and cries constantly. Techniques that work? PLEASE?? : r/Parenting ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
How do you deal with the whining? : r/toddlers ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
3 year old whining : r/Preschoolers ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
My 3yo son whines almost constantly around my wife : r/Parenting ↩︎ ↩︎
How to handle the whining?? : r/toddlers - Stosuj konsekwencję, rutynę, cierpliwość, odwracaj uwagę, wzmacniaj pozytywne zachowania i unikaj nagradzania marudzenia. ↩︎

benchmark

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

[Emergence: Top Quartile Startups Are Growing 58% at $10m in ARR | SaaStr](https://www.saastr.com/emergence-top-quartile-startups-are-inbox/knowledge/benchmark]]SaaS Benchmarks

SaaS Metrics

Conversions

Sites

Public companies

Brand24 Q1 2024 (public company):

MRR +30% (from $478k to $622k y-y)
ARPU +29% (from $123 to $159 y-y)
Customers +0.6% (from 3886 to 3911 y-y)*
P&L revenue increase 23%
- 622000 / 159 = 3911; $478000/$123 = 3886 (year ago) (3911 - 3886) / 3886

Management

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Principles

Managers should establish priorities and have a clear top priority to focus on. Force it.
Culture
- Culture of absolute adherence to deadlines.
Projects
- It's recommended to hold a kick-off meeting for projects with a set due date, vision, end goal to establish commitment.

Automatic task creation from screenshot

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Flow:

OCR image using MacOS build in OCR
Use ChatGPT to create a task name based on the text from OCR
Change file name of the image to task name provided by ChatGPT
Create ClickUp task based on the file name and attach the file
Delete local screenshot

Time save - 30 minutes every week, as I have more than 100 screenshots per week.

Apple Shortcut: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/973a3bd2373f4b1e801a85ba09c28423

trends

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Updated 2024-06-02T12:35:00.000+02:00

Trends

Open-source apps, as a good alternative to extisting paid and freemium SaaS ^[1]
Less people in the world ^[2]
Remote work, offshoring
AI - LLM

The Six Channels Startups Need to Dominate to Grow - 20Growth

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

20Growth: The Six Channels Startups Need to Dominate to Grow, Why the Best Growth Talent Never Comes from Marketing or Product, Who and How to Hire Growth Leaders and Teams and Why in a World of AI, Growth is More Science than Art with Matt Lerner

20Growth: The Six Channels Startups Need to Dominate to Grow, Why the Best Growth Talent Never Comes from Marketing or Product, Who and How to Hire Growth Leaders and Teams and Why in a World of AI, Growth is More Science than Art with Matt Lerner

growth marketing

90% of growth came from 10% of things at PayPal. It repeats in other startups. You have to figure out this 10% as quickly as possible.
Growth is information discovery, rather than running playbooks, doing best practices.
Growth is ability to find customers and help them understand the value you can deliver to them and get them to use and love the product or service.
You sometimes get best customers to whom you introduced friction to the funnel. (10:50)
Start with metrics where you deliver value to customers, like weekly active users - not revenue. It focuses entire company. Then look what users are using for real. metryki i KPI
There are only six channels: 1. You hear from sales person (outbound). 2. Some partner brings you in. 3. You see some ads. 4. You do Google search (top 3). 5. Content. 6. You hear from influencer. In growth you should try to make some of those channels to work.
Be when potential customer have high intent.

The Database Evolution - Invest Like the Best

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Dev Ittycheria - The Database Evolution by Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Dev Ittycheria - The Database Evolution

CEO twice

“I've learned, one of the big lessons I've learned is that to drive excellence, you need to be incredibly judgmental. And most people, when push comes to shove, are afraid to make the decisions they need to make to be truly successful.” ocena i kontrola zadań dobra jakość

“They're not willing to hold people accountable that need to be held accountable. They're not willing to be extreme about the product decisions that need to be made, the way products are positioned, whether they're priced, and they're not also willing to be extreme about the go-to-market decisions. And what I find is most people fold with the pressure to make hard decisions.” podejmowanie decyzji

“And I think that's why there's a lot of very average and mediocre companies out there. And I think really confronting problems directly and dealing with them directly, most people are social animals. Most people don't want to have a painful conversation. rozwiązywanie problemów

Most people don't want to point out the flaws and what people are doing quality. And so in many cases, you have been these very passive aggressive meetings, everyone nods politely, but in the back of the mind they said, this is probably not gonna work. We work really hard to create a culture where we can be intellectually honest about what's working, what's not working, have fierce conversations about what to do, what not to do, who's performing, who's not performing, and then really focus on executing really well.” transparencja ocena i kontrola zadań

There wouldn't be any fierce debate. But then people leave the room and you know, you can see people's eyes rolling saying, that's never going to work. And to me, I view passive aggressiveness as a form of duplicity, because you have to create a culture where people are free to say what they think constructively about a particular idea or a particular decision.
Because I always believe all of us are smarter than any one of us. And one of our core values at MongoDB is intellectual honesty, because I abhor passive aggressive behaviors. That was one thing that I learned not to do.”

sprzedaż

“Then the certain interim steps in the sales process that tell you, are you on track to kind of getting a deal? Have you met with the economic buyer? Have you qualified how much budget's available?
Have you qualified even that this is a priority for them? And because you're not just competing with your own competitor, you're competing with other vendors and other spaces for budget dollars. And so how do you know, is this problem that you're solving for as important as another problem that another vendor might be trying to address?
And then obviously, what is the decision criteria? One rule of thumb we have is, you should never be answering an RFP.”
“That's not just a demo and a sale.

I hate deals where it's just a very long sales cycle because there's always chance of something going wrong. But if you think about any sales process, any sales process is essentially designed to address three core questions. Why does the customer wanna do anything?
what pain or problem do they have that's gonna force them to take action? So that's with the discovery part of the sales process. You try and discover what pain or problem customers have that are relevant to what you can solve for.
The second phase of that is why MongoDB? Why is MongoDB the best choice to solve that pain relative to all the alternatives and substitutes available? And then the third part of the sales process is why now?”
“Because you can do the first two things, but the customer can easily kick the can down the road. And in many cases, that's the struggle most salespeople have. It's not that they lose a deal, but the customer never makes a decision.
Can you create a manufacturer or is there a compelling event you can use to force a customer or induce a customer to make a decision sooner than later? So those three questions, I don't know how you can forecast a deal if you don't have answers to those three questions. So that's essentially how our sales process is broken down.
Then the certain interim steps in the sales process that tell you, are you on track to kind of getting a deal? Have you met with the economic buyer? Have you qualified how much budget's available?”
“Have you qualified even that this is a priority for them? And because you're not just competing with your own competitor, you're competing with other vendors and other spaces for budget dollars. And so how do you know, is this problem that you're solving for as important as another problem that another vendor might be trying to address?
And then obviously, what is the decision criteria? One rule of thumb we have is, you should never be answering an RFP. Because invariably, if you're getting an RFP that you've never worked on before, some other vendor has written the RFP.
So what that means is you have to set the table on the decision criteria. How is a customer going to make a decision? What features or capabilities are they going to weigh?”
“And how are they going to weight them relative to other things they can consider for them to make a decision? Have you educated the customer and built what we call champions who will understand the value of MongoDB and understand why for their own business, MongoDB is the best choice? And then building a champion, a champion we define as someone who's selling for you when you've left the building.
Obviously someone who's a change agent, has power and influence in an organization and is really selling for you after you're not there. There's a big difference, what we call between champions and coaches. Coaches wanting to see you win, but they're not gonna take either any personal risks themselves, or they just don't have the credibility or juice to kind of influence the decision.
But they can be helpful to kind of give you some insight or radar into what's happening in the account. But ultimately there's a champion for every deal that are closed. Sometimes you may not know who your champion is, but there's someone who's advocating for you when you're not alone in the room, or advocating frankly for someone else.”
“And you will gotta make sure your champion is more powerful than your enemy's champion. And that's all part of the sales process.
The champion idea reminds me of the first thing you said, which is that most people don't want to make hard decisions and confront trade-offs. And it makes me wonder what your first experience with this was from a personal standpoint that made you aware of or suited to or better wired to be decisive, have judgment, make decisions, make trade-offs.”

“But if you ask anyone, did you ever fire someone too quickly or too late, 99.9% of the time they'll say they fired people too late. Why? Because they introduced hope into the process. zwalnianie ludzi hope bias

And we still do that even at MongoDB. People say, oh, give that person more time. He or she just needs more time to get a sense of how we do things.

And invariably, the answer was staring at you in the face, but you just didn't want to acknowledge it. And so that was also another lesson I learned is deal with problems head on and quickly. And at PlayLogic, I went through multiple rounds of leaders. rozwiązywanie problemów agile, szybkość, tempo

And not that I was purposely looking to change leaders, but leaders can come and go because they're good for a certain stage of growth, but then they tap out. Even at MongoDB, the leadership team I inherited is no longer here. When a business scales, not everyone scales at the same rate.” zarządzanie menadżerami

“One of the things I've learned in life is that if you see a problem and don't act on it, that problem is no longer that person that think that problem is you. If you have the authority to solve that problem and not doing it, then you're the problem. I always feel like whenever I see something bad, if I don't act on it, then I'm actually accepting mediocrity or I'm accepting poor performance, and that's contrary to everything that we're trying to do. Ray Dalio rozwiązywanie problemów 🌱 operating principles

In some ways, you're penalizing all the good people who are working really hard because you're accepting mediocre performance from the other person, and they're actually penalizing all the good people who have crowned the constraints or the limitations of this other person. dobra jakość kultura-firmy

One of the ideas of yours that I liked best when I was reviewing your history and your thinking was this idea that people perform to the level that you inspect, not that you expect. I love that idea. Can you just explain that philosophy and the mechanism of how you put it into practice?” zarządzanie system operacyjny organizacji excpectations ocena i kontrola zadań rozwiązywanie problemów inspection

“The short answer is that if grown adults were supposed to do what we asked them to do, you wouldn't need that many leaders or managers. You would have theoretically one leader and a bunch of individual contributors, but the reality is that human nature doesn't operate that way and you need people who can challenge and push you. When people know that there's a high degree of inspection, there was a joke at Blade Logic was that Blade Logic was placed where there's a lot of sunshine because there's no place to hide because we constantly inspect what's going on.
When people know that their performance will be inspected, that there'll be constant review of what's going well and what's not going well, which is healthy. It's not mean that the person is bad, but sometimes they're running into an issue. Sometimes that issue is bigger than they can solve.
It elevates up and saying, hey, we've got to figure out a way to respond to this issue because this person has it, we're going to see this with other people. That just creates a very healthy dynamic and it also creates a bias to action. People who thrive[…]”
“And then it slowly moves up the organization. In a typical organization, I may hear, Dave, we have a little problem with Acme company, but we're all over it. And if I operate in that way, I say, okay, no big deal. kultura-firmy They're on top of it. And then a month or two later, we found out that Acme company churned. My philosophy is different, is that if I hear bad news, I immediately start digging in and invariably, because I know when I hear bad news, I know two things.
“Don't ignore bad news. In your house, if your dog poops on the floor, are you gonna step over and keep walking? You're gonna get your pooper scooper and come clean it up.
Similarly, like if you see bad news, you can't just ignore it. Your responsibility is to investigate and really get at the root issue. And invariably, you always find out when you ask someone, hey, after you fired someone, you say, oh my God, I found out so many more problems.

One, I'm the last to know. And two, it's far worse than what people tell me because the filtration process of sending bad news up the organization dulls all the sharp edges of that bad information. So a holy crap moment with a customer, with a rep is now, hey, there's a small issue with Acme company.” inspection

“Are you comfortable being unconventional? Can you delay gratification? Do you have long-term orientation? zasady, cechy sukcesu

Those are keys to being really successful, but it's so hard to do because it's so contrary to human nature. How do you find someone who can really do those things and what drives them to do those things? I've heard some amazing stories about people.
I asked them the question, what's the most difficult thing you've ever endured? I keep it generally open-ended. Some of the stories you hear about what they had to deal with in their upbringing, they came from a broken home or they came with very few resources. zatrudnianie ludzi - rekrutacja

They're so driven about making sure that their family and their children never have to go through what they have to go through, just tells you this person is intrinsically motivated. We should joke at BladeLogic, if someone has some character flaws, the parents can fix their character flaws growing up. There's no way we're going to be”

“My motivation is to prove to people that I'm good enough, to prove to people that I'm just as good as people who graduated from an elite college and may have had a more, quote unquote, normal family childhood. Looking back, I think it really served me well. Objectively, you've proven that. I'm curious then if it persists as a source of motivation or if that has morphed into something different.”

“Love Andy Grove. I think he was truly one of the several leaders of our industry. The best thing I've learned from Andy was that there's only two reasons why people fail. zasady, cechy sukcesu

One, they failed because they didn't have the skills to do the job.
Or two, they failed because they didn't have the will or the drive to do the job. And if you net it out, that's the two reasons.
And invariably, we find that if you ask people on a two by two matrix to plot people, invariably, let's say they have high will, but they don't have necessarily all the skills to do the job. But then say someone who has a skill to do the job suddenly is not performing anymore and why did their will change? Well, maybe they felt they should have been promoted and they did it and they get demoralized.”

People overcomplicate things and all that. So we call that the skill will matrix. Do they have the skill to do the job and do they have the will? overcomplication

twitter-Likes-1763820676743-2013-2025.11

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

1. Fear of responsibility is a catastrophic bottleneck. Since all progress in a system can only happen at the tightest bottleneck, you’ll never be able to be more productive or successful than you DARE to be. Todo apps & lifehacks can’t save you here https://t.co/0jnHboFaTK visakanv [type:: tweet] odpowiedzialność produktywność i efektywność life hacks i nawyki
1/ Here’s a list of conversational frameworks I’ve picked up that have been helpful. komunikacja modele, mental models, sposób myślenia

Please add your own. eriktorenberg [type:: tweet] komunikacja
If you're a decent programmer working on a startup, take on as much technical debt as you can stand. (If you're a decent programmer, you won't be able to stand too much.) paulg [type:: tweet] dlug-technologiczny
'If you don't have time to talk to your users, you are not the right person to be prioritizing the problems for your team.' https://t.co/NzkSoTP7en MarcinWillmann [type:: tweet] priorytetyzacja customer development customer centric
One of the biggest disconnects between school and reality: schools give you credit for effort, but customers don't. Young founders often get whiplash from this transition at YC. After 21 years of getting credit for effort, it suddenly stops. paulg [type:: tweet] wyniki i rezultaty produktywność i efektywność zasady, cechy sukcesu
"A majority of life’s errors are caused by forgetting what one is really trying to do." Munger zackkanter [type:: tweet] najpierw rzeczy najważniejsze priorytetyzacja modele, mental models, sposób myślenia
In an age of information abundance, the only things that really need to be taught are those that are counterintuitive. mmay3r [type:: tweet] uczenie się przeładowanie-informacjami
When did everything become an investment? jasonfried [type:: tweet] inwestowanie
I’ve never read a guide on “how to build a twitter following”. By definition, instructions are a way to become undifferentiated. mmay3r [type:: tweet] unikalność, differentiate framework
Time spent mastering the basics is time well spent. TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet] uczenie się produktywność i efektywność
Regret minimization is a great framework because it puts your future self in charge, and he/she is who is going to live with the consequences of your present actions. mmay3r [type:: tweet] framework konsekwencje podejmowanie decyzji mindset-sukcesu uniwersalne zasady, prawa
Now there’s no need for LSD. cyantist [type:: tweet] psychologia ludzi
Starting pointless interpersonal conflict is a reliable way to avoid doing anything productive or meaningful. konflikt produktywność i efektywność prokrastynacja

Drama provides an excuse for stagnation. konflikt produktywność i efektywność prokrastynacja

People start fires and then praise themselves for putting them out. TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet] stoicyzm
If you want to do something great with your life—whatever that means to you—remember this: you get an unlimited number of tries. The only constraining factor is your lifespan. mindset-sukcesu odwaga w działaniu i ryzyko sens życia

The worst things you can do are: odwaga w działaniu i ryzyko strach mindset-sukcesu Sukces What is limiting people
care what other people think,
not take risks,
fail slowly,
give up. dcurtis [type:: tweet] odwaga w działaniu i ryzyko 🦋 słabości
Intelligence is useless without the wisdom to know which games can and can't be won with intelligence. mmay3r [type:: tweet] modele, mental models, sposób myślenia wybór problemów i gier
I’m continuously amazed by how many people have to ask permission to buy a $50 book, yet are empowered to call a meeting that costs tens of thousands of dollars. QuinnyPig [type:: tweet] spotkania edukacja
Manager: identify problems

Director: identify solutions

VP: solve the problems

.......

Want to get promoted?

Do the next one jasonlk [type:: tweet] awans i rozwój kariery retrospekcja
Insight doesn’t come from success or failure but rather from reflection. shaneparrish [type:: tweet] retrospekcja
Five core jobs of a CEO:
1. Nail down strategy for company CEO strategia
2. Deliver capital to pursue that strategy CEO strategia budżetowanie i alokowanie zasobów odpowiedzialność
3. Build team to execute
4. Communicate the hell out of company strategy (internally and externally) strategia komunikacja komunikacja firmowa zarządzanie CEO lider transparencja
5. Hold people accountable. bznotes [type:: tweet] zarządzanie ludźmi rozliczanie innych odpowiedzialność
"Being engaged" can be a way to avoid engagement with your own life. przepracowanie, busy Brak spokoju Multitasking, rozpraszacze, przeszkadzacze, uwaga 2025 - Uwolnić się od newsów i szybkiej dopaminy

"Being informed" is useless if the "news of the day" is irrelevant tomorrow. 2025 - Uwolnić się od newsów i szybkiej dopaminy

"Being caught up" on low quality entertainment is a waste of irretrievable hours. produktywność i efektywność Multitasking, rozpraszacze, przeszkadzacze, uwaga zarządzanie czasem life hacks i nawyki najpierw rzeczy najważniejsze focus

Your time is limited. Spend it wisely. TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet] Czas produktywność i efektywność Multitasking, rozpraszacze, przeszkadzacze, uwaga priorytetyzacja najpierw rzeczy najważniejsze overthinking jedna rzecz jednocześnie Opportunity cost
Chronic overwhelm is the inevitable result of the refusal to make tough choices or accept trade-offs. priorytetyzacja podejmowanie decyzji Multitasking, rozpraszacze, przeszkadzacze, uwaga jedna rzecz jednocześnie

You can’t do anything well if you are trying to do everything at once. Multitasking, rozpraszacze, przeszkadzacze, uwaga podejmowanie decyzji zarządzanie czasem focus

Overwhelm will be solved with definitive decision-making, not “time management.” TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet] Multitasking, rozpraszacze, przeszkadzacze, uwaga podejmowanie decyzji zarządzanie czasem
“are you happy? here’s why you shouldn’t be” — the media micsolana szczęście [type:: tweet]
The biggest threat to large and growing companies is the challenge of maintaining a customer focus, higher sense of urgency, speed and accountability.

Beauraceacy, unnecessary politics, turf wars, empire building and indifference is the enemy of relevance and sustainable growth. ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Channel-Product Fit > Product-Market Fit.
Distribution follows the power law. Products are built to fit channels, not the other way around. Gaurav1105 [type:: tweet]
"Complaining is not a strategy. You have to work with the world as you find it, not as you would have it be." — Jeff Bezos shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Solve for biggest risk first.

What ppl often do is easy/low-risk things first, but nothing will increase self-confidence (+ anti-fragility) more than doing hard thing first.

Identify top 5 risks for your biz (& also applies elsewhere) + address in order of difficulty, not ease. eriktorenberg [type:: tweet]
Hard work is necessary but not sufficient for success. You also need to work on the right things, which means saying no to the wrong things. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Outcome over ego.

Effective over efficient.

Doing over watching. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Rain can only soak one who is dry

Pain can only hurt one who craves pleasure

Turmoil can only affect one who craves peace

Conflict can only harm one who craves harmony

Mud can only soil one who is clean.

The one who craves Nothing

Can be harmed by Nothing. KapilGuptaMD [type:: tweet]
People who say the best technology wins are typing it out on their QWERTY keyboards

Network effect wins RyanSAdams [type:: tweet]
I had more important insights into my business at a day long meditation retreat than I have had during a couple weeks at the office. Sometimes you need to change your context to break through. justinkan [type:: tweet]
A simple strategy that will save you so many headaches: don't care about winning trivial arguments.

Someone says something you don't agree with? Smile, nod, and move on to more important things.

Life is short. Not caring about having the last word will save you so much time. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
My rules for writing:
- Get to the point
- Delete unnecessary words
- Use simple words
- Remove cliches
- Use short sentences
- Be precise
- Surprise the reader
Then, add rhythm. https://t.co/ZZ7snRMmFv david_perell [type:: tweet]
Shoutout to all the PMs who keep their heads up & see all the tools, discovery/delivery, prototype, MVP vs SLC, user mapping, opportunity assessment, outcome driven, cross functional, story point buzzword salad for what it is: ways to help us build what customers need+love ✌️ maggiecrowley [type:: tweet]
The most expensive way to pay for anything is with time. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
All my life I’ve sourced approval from others. This has led to some great accomplishments (starting companies, great investments) and a LOT of suffering.

Currently learning to be the source of my own approval. It’s a challenge to unwind the traumas of the past! justinkan [type:: tweet]
Every day at a startup is day zero. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
A common trope in VC is to ask whether the most important thing is the product, market, or team.

@pmarca @eladgil @arachleff agree:

Markets are most important

But how to evaluate and pick markets?

@nujabrol and I are working on a definitive guide. Some preliminary thoughts: eriktorenberg [type:: tweet]
A parent devotes his life to raising a child

One day, the child leaves him.

A man invests years into a friendship

One day, they become enemies.

A man spends a lifetime building a reputation

One false move, and he is vilified.

All things in this life are Empty and Fleeting. KapilGuptaMD [type:: tweet]
Here’s my ranked reading list from the past year. These books have changed my life!

The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
Leadership and Self-Deception
The Score Takes Care of Itself
The Way to Love
Playing to Win
The Power of Now
Can’t Hurt Me
Atomic Habits justinkan [type:: tweet]
Product postmortems work best when they are explicitly not about:
- Guilt
- Blame
- Shame
I've found the same concept applies to politics, and life in general. shl [type:: tweet]
Learning how to prioritize well (work, stress, meetings, pain and life in general) should be taught in school or in college at the latest :). bonatsos [type:: tweet]
@eliistender10 Make something you want. paulg [type:: tweet]
Something I taught a 7 yo today:

Most of making things is figuring out why they don't work. paulg [type:: tweet]
A reader recently asked, "How do I get people to do things they don’t want to do?” Taken aback by the directness and potentially immoral implications of his question, my gut reaction was to say, “You can’t and shouldn’t!”

To which his response was, “I have to; it’s my job.” nireyal [type:: tweet]
"People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can’t fathom." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
@millstoic https://t.co/Ng5VYdueb1 Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Distraction is the disease of the moment.

Mobile games, clickbait articles, obnoxiously repetitive pop songs.

Distraction without satisfaction.

Just interesting enough to keep the mind noisy and unfocused.

A little silence will allow deeper truths to surface. TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet]
Three Rules for Advertising:
1. Use simple words and vivid stories.
2. Speak to the customer’s emotions. An ounce of emotion is worth a pound of evidence.
3. Focus on the customer, not yourself. Speak to the conversation that’s already happening in the customer’s mind. david_perell [type:: tweet]
Focus not on what is missing or what is wrong.

Focus on doing your very best within the circumstances as they are. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
A manager's job is to become redundant.

If your team doesn't work well without you, you didn't do your job. andreasklinger [type:: tweet]
The reality is life is a single-player game.

You’re born alone. You’re going to die alone. All of your interpretations are alone. All your memories are alone. You’re gone in three generations and nobody cares. Before you showed up, nobody cared.

It’s all single-player.

@naval DeJayOfficial [type:: tweet]
When you have something you want to do in your life: Just fucking do it. Don’t second guess yourself, don’t overthink it. Go with your instincts and have a bias to action. justinkan [type:: tweet]
Most people have no clue what they're doing with their time and still complain that they don't have any. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
In the long-run, adaptation is more useful than optimization.

At some point, the environment you optimized for will shift. The rules of the game will change.

The flexible prevail. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Thinking about productivity and its tools
- Your email is what others think you should work on.
- Your Todo list is what you think you should work on.
- Your calendar is (usually) what you actually work on.
How much do they overlap in your world? https://t.co/sLyKGagsKP destraynor [type:: tweet]
A revealing question to ask about people: could you describe them as having a twinkle in their eye?

If you try asking yourself this about people you know, you may notice some patterns. paulg [type:: tweet]
Go back a few hundred years and your life was pre-determined—a smith, a mason, a farmer.

Go back fifty years and once you chose you were set—the company man or the housewife.

Now, you can switch careers like you do underwear. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
It's a hundred times easier to criticize than create. shl [type:: tweet]
My fav Chrome Extension. Mortality.
Gr8 for keeping focus. https://t.co/r1oSb4tp6S tomik99 [type:: tweet]
Trying and struggling looks like incompetence right up until the moment it looks like success. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Be the company today you will be in 12 months

Hire those people
Build that marketing site
Focus on that core customer jasonlk [type:: tweet]
In a world of abundance, constraints are the new freedom. iam_preethi [type:: tweet]
Your teaching ability is constrained by your writing ability.

If you can’t write it down, it will be nearly impossible to teach it to others. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
In most cases, I think people are better off with no advice than some advice. There’s a good chance whatever advice you get lacks context and likely doesn’t apply. With no advice, something special happens - you have to figure it out yourself. You put your full brain to work. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
@sarthakgh Consider: Most people aren’t interested in learning about the technology behind the internet.

What if your wrong and people don’t inherently understand trade offs in everything? i.e complicated topics that don’t feel immediately impactful on their day to day life JasonHitchcock [type:: tweet]
How clearly you write is directly correlated with how clearly you think.

Cluttered writing implies cluttered thoughts. Plain and simple. iam_preethi [type:: tweet]
This tweet is so great that I will repost it from time to time: https://t.co/vh6QkRfeG5 bolchowka [type:: tweet]
Peace of mind is the highest wealth. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
SMB support: "Sorry, here's how you can do it: [link]"

Enterprise support: "Let's fix it.
Can we jump on a Zoom?" jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"Priorities" is an oxymoron.

You can only have one priority at a time. Your second priority is equivalent to your 99th priority. shl [type:: tweet]
Two lessons I learned when building my first business:
1. You only get value out of projects that you finish.
2. Brilliant new ideas are often defensive mechanisms against the fear of failing to finish the last project. zackkanter [type:: tweet]
Software eats anything legible with sensors.

We are sensorizing the world.

Software is eating the world. mmay3r [type:: tweet]
1. Your vibe attracts your tribe.
2. As you grow, your life energy will gradually increase, which will change your vibe and you will resonate less with your tribe.
3. You will eventually outgrow your tribe because it will become your box.
4. Be grateful, let go and move on. MindTendencies2 [type:: tweet]
The more complexity (features) you bake into your product, the more surface area for questions will arise from customers, investors and pundits. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
One of the best things about starting your career at Amazon is grooming in some fantastic values in early years of life. One of those is writing pithy, powerful documents.

(Credit: On LinkedIn by Abe Diaz) https://t.co/dQUhy3KJ37 nipunmehra [type:: tweet]
@eshear I prefer the „product/distribution fit” term. Your idea will always have the market (some smaller, some bigger). The real challenge is to reach out to people in your market without being too pushy so that they ignore you. bolchowka [type:: tweet]
Social proof is the number one thing that convinces you to choose a product, support a political candidate, like a food, or enjoy an activity. auren [type:: tweet]
If something's been on your to-do list for way too long, just remove it.

It's not that important. shl [type:: tweet]
If you're focused on the outcome, you're not focused on the process.

Sustained success comes from a fanatical focus on process.

You don't need to be perfect, just better than yesterday. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Being a founder is hard. Being an early employee is hard. Being a VC is hard. Being a politician is hard. Being an engineer is hard. Being a writer is hard. Being a friend is hard. Being a partner is hard. Being a parent is hard.

It's all hard.

Life is hard, and then you die. shl [type:: tweet]
@shl Me (as a kid): "life isn't fair!"
My dad (every time): "life IS fair, it sucks for everybody!" cortmcginty [type:: tweet]
People don't want to use your software.

They want to lose weight, laugh, be entertained, get smarter, spend time with loved ones, go home on time, sleep adequately, eat good food, be happy.

Your product is only as good as the experiences it enables people to have. shl [type:: tweet]
Don't apologize because you feel sorry.

Apologize because you caused damage. MindTendencies2 [type:: tweet]
Results =
(Hard Work*Time)^Strategy

Working hard is important, but working on the right thing is more important. A great strategy can deliver exponential results.

Of course, the best strategy is worth nothing if you never get to work. Zero to the millionth power is still zero. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Things you don't need to launch your product: a great name, a one-word domain, a beautiful logo, an ever better website, brilliant copy, perfect code, custom illustrations, shiny buttons, optimized CSS…

Things you do need: a product that solves a problem for someone. That's it. shl [type:: tweet]
If you solve a problem for someone, you will be surprised by how much you don't need.

If you don't solve a problem for someone, you'll be surprised by how much won't help. shl [type:: tweet]
Never argue with someone who believes there own lies. Divine_Gypsy [type:: tweet]
The mistakes that inexperienced founders make have a lot in common with those that inexperienced writers make. They go about things in an overcomplicated way, because the obvious, simple approach doesn't seem "serious" enough. paulg [type:: tweet]
Very much like @garyvee’s lens here… “Everyone’s trying to be 3 for 3, aiming to only make perfect decisions. 3 wins, 0 losses. I’m trying to be 118-92.” https://t.co/2Iwy2BTpCS jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Yes, OKRs are almost certainly harmful for pre-P/M fit startups because it causes teams to optimize towards goals as opposed to constantly asking if the goal is even the right one to begin with? Plus the OKR cycles are typically quarters when iteration should be happening weekly andrewchen [type:: tweet]
The top 10 rebuttals to: “Agile is great. But it won’t work here.” https://t.co/CcEsGr3PzB

Which is the one you hear most often? https://t.co/3lTaB2kNtA jboogie [type:: tweet]
Don’t run from conflict. Don’t run towards conflict. Just be ok with conflict if it happens and accept it head on.

Difficult situations will fuel your growth. justinkan [type:: tweet]
Sometimes it’s more efficient to make the mistake than to spend the time wondering whether it would have been a mistake. mmay3r [type:: tweet]
You can tell when someone uses their own product.

You can definitely tell when they don't. shl [type:: tweet]
My favorite interview question: « On a scale from 0 to 10 how happy are you at your current job? » (Most common answer: 7) « What would make you go from 7 to 10? » collinmathilde [type:: tweet]
It's incredible how quickly you can move & build things when you have full autonomy to make decisions. abarrallen [type:: tweet]
What are the user behaviors that drive business results? How can we create more of them?

https://t.co/HCuN8agxCv https://t.co/CULHAVAC65 jseiden [type:: tweet]
“Most geniuses—especially those who lead others—prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities but by exploiting unrecognized simplicities.” — Andy Benoit shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Surround yourself with people who will tell you how it is.

Subtlety is a waste of time. iam_preethi [type:: tweet]
Settings are for successful products. For MVP, just get the defaults right. DavidSacks [type:: tweet]
"We’re taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other people haven’t, you need to do things the wrong way."

— James Dyson https://t.co/t1DKqHPXJ7 Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
I'm slightly obsessed with companies like @SouthwestAir, @costco, @Workday that have such long-tenured employees & an incredible focus on culture to deliver better value for customers. https://t.co/Cw7HFKwMQN abarrallen [type:: tweet]
People shouldn’t feel safe around you because you’re harmless.

They should feel that way because you’re dangerous, and you’re on their side. tannerguzy [type:: tweet]
When you know what matters to you, it’s a lot easier to ignore what doesn’t. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Marketing and Sales is not a beauty contest. CaseyA [type:: tweet]
First comes timing, then comes luck. Whatever’s next is such a distant third that it’s nearly impossible to see. Whatever fills that slot could just as well swap places with the 10th or 20th thing that matters. Plenty of things matter, but timing + luck matter so much more. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Most failures are one-time costs.

Most regrets are recurring costs.

The pain of inaction stings longer than the pain of incorrect action. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
No over yes.
Hard over easy.
Outcome over ego.
Simple over complex.
Listen over speaking.
Doing over criticizing.
Effective over efficient.
Long term over short term.
Avoiding stupidity over seeking brilliance. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Most of you should be worried less about being a “good man” and more about getting what it is you want out of life.

People won’t care that you’re an asshole if you’re rich and useful

In the other case there’s a good chance you end up a virtuous loser with nothing to show for it MascMillennial [type:: tweet]
Failure is the cost of ambition. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Do not apologize for taking steps to protect your peace. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
LOVE this quote from @JamesClear in his newest newsletter. This is one of my must-read newsletters (b/c of ideas like this): "How would the person I wish to be act today?" acmejla [type:: tweet]
Don’t worry that people will “steal your ideas.”

Worry that they’ll love their customers harder than you and then use what they learn to outwork and outsmart you. KateBour [type:: tweet]
I recently left Stripe after 4.5 formative and magical years. Some reflections on what made working at Stripe feel different than working other places:
1/Turpentine
2/Writing
3/Meticulousness
4/Principled decision-making
5/Ambition
6/Talking up
7/The API metaphor zebriez [type:: tweet]
.@AbhinandanShah asked me, “What part of Steve Jobs’ legacy do you think the world misses the most?

My answer, ”The extreme clarity in which he saw things as they were and what they could become.”

Rest In Peace, old friend. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Optimists solve problems when they arise.

Pessimists invent problems before they start. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
As infectious as a good attitude is a work ethic. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
If you like saying yes, get better at saying no. No gives you more opportunities to say yes to the things you really want to do/make/try/explore/discover. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher.

Lesson:

If you really want to learn a topic, then “teach” it.

Write a book.
Teach a class.
Build a product.
Start a company.

The act of making something will force you to learn more deeply than reading ever will. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Every entrepreneur should be forced to write their own copy and tackle customer service tickets on a Friday evening. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
This is what continuously successful organizations do, they fight complexity and pull it back to the basics. The New England Patriots are masters at this. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
"When people speak in a very elaborate and sophisticated way, they either want to tell a lie, or to admire themselves. You should not believe such people. Good speech is always clear, clever, and understood by all."
—Leo Tolstoy JamesClear [type:: tweet]
To not get fucked by the modern environment, you have to repress the natural human tendency to be irrational and spontaneous, and instead train yourself to be rational and structured at all times. Yuck. iam_preethi [type:: tweet]
@jadenkore @naval @0x49fa98 @Cernovich My only wish, is to live like a poor person with lots of money. MyFriendFate [type:: tweet]
Everyone wants to be happy.

Actually, it’s more accurate to say that no one wants to be unhappy.

Happiness is subjective and difficult to define. Unhappiness is straightforward and simple.

https://t.co/DptBCV7buf EdLatimore [type:: tweet]
Ask your boss today what 1 thing you can take off her plate. And just do it.

This may backfire.

It may not be appreciated.

Or ... it just might bond you for life.

Because no one does this. jasonlk [type:: tweet]
When ppl come across a theory they dislike but fear may contain truth or appeal, a common response is to attack the motivations & character of the ppl proposing the theory (& their affiliates), instead of debating it on its own terms, where they could lose or change their minds. eriktorenberg [type:: tweet]
I’ve been doing sales for a solid month.

I have a better grasp of what really MATTERS to our customers, where their pain, & the opportunity, really is than I’ve ever had before.

If you want to level up as a product lead, get on the 📞 & start selling. maggiecrowley [type:: tweet]
Life is too short to not be pursuing the best opportunity you know of. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
You started a blog
You started school
You started a course
You started budgeting
You started eating healthy
You started a workout program
You started learning a language

Everyone “starts” something

Finish something CJ_Johnson17th [type:: tweet]
For knowledge work, time spent has little to do with value created and the forty hour workweek is anachronistic nonsense. naval [type:: tweet]
Developing a positive relationship with suffering is one of the most important skills to master. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
The goal is to eliminate the interface. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
A KPI with multiple owners,

Is a KPI with no owners. jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Happiness generally isn't about making more money, but rather freedom.

The freedom to say no to things you don't want to do. The freedom to say no to people you don't like. The freedom to not feel like you are obligated to say "yes."

Freedom is saying yes when you want to. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
A simple question to run your daily decisions through:

Will this cost me time in the future or save me time in the future? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Tomorrow is overrated.
Today is underrated. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The larger the herd, the lower the returns. naval [type:: tweet]
Don't be nice and let people walk all over you

Because no one ever thanked a carpet

Be kind with your strong boundaries

Because you need to respect yourself to respect others MindTendencies2 [type:: tweet]
Clarity of thinking with relentless execution can create fortunes. Amazon won with selection. And if you expand this need to have everything on your store, you can eat the world. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
The most powerful productivity tool ever invented is simply the word "no." shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
👇some of the best product advice I’ve ever seen in a tweet. JSchwarz9 [type:: tweet]
Depression is a powerful force of good.

It's supposed to stop you from living a shitty life.

It's literally your brain telling you "wake up, you're living this wrong"

Taking pills to suppress it won't change your reality. Only make your shitty life smell less bad. DamianProsa [type:: tweet]
You are not your problems.

Address each problem as it presents itself to you. Not as your mind regards them.

Your thoughts about your problems are not the actual problems.

Those thoughts are just extensions that prolong the idea of suffering. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Huge companies stop being innovative not because of increased bureaucracy but because as companies grow they get worse at hiring.

Recruiters play it safe and look for signals and experience on resumes.

They stop hiring for slope and start hiring for y-intercept. danielsifredo [type:: tweet]
If you lose your money, you can often earn it back.

But if you misuse your time, you can never get it back.

Where you put your time shows the world what you really value and believe. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]

1. Let's talk about focus. In early stage startups, focus is the most important thing. Because you don't have many ppl or resources, you have limited time and money to do things. But how does one focus? dunkhippo33 [type:: tweet]
Effective people do things ineffective people don’t like to do.

A large part of the separation between effective and not is the willingness to do obvious things nobody wants to do. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
A few mentors have told me that you shouldn’t default to hiring even though most of your team will push for it. Instead you should figure out how to automate things. Today a good buddy just hit $2m in rev for the month of nov. the biz is 14 months old. He has 3 employees. thesamparr [type:: tweet]
Reading is the best way to scale your learning, writing is the best way to scale your thinking. Bosefina [type:: tweet]
Failure is a part of life. The people who never fail are the people who fail to live.

Pushing things forward and leaving your comfort zone means you're going to make mistakes. It means the world will kick your ass sometimes.

When it happens, learn & go again.

Relentless. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Are you struggling with productivity? Follow our 6 tips to complete your tasks faster and avoid distractions. 🚀
https://t.co/gceTgNeWG2 HeySpace_App [type:: tweet]
A successful life is not about winning all the games you play, but about stopping to play all the games that have a winner. SvenSchnieders [type:: tweet]
You can go to school and spend years trying to learn about great marketing.

Or you can spend a few minutes watching Steve Jobs: https://t.co/I2kMipVg3n ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Job of CEO after about $3m ARR or so, generally speaking:
1. Recruiting
2. Recruiting
3. Customers
4. Product Strategy
5. Recruiting
Also

Keeping company funded jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Don’t launch something too pretty.

It may lead you to thinking you have product-market fit but you may actually just have design-designers fit. shl [type:: tweet]
At ~$60M of revenue:
Workday: 54% software/ 46% services
Veeva: 53% software/ 47% services

At ~$800M of revenue:
Workday: 78% software/ 22% services
Veeva: 81% software/ 19% services

Professional services are sometimes needed to scale software revenue with enterprise customers. chetanp [type:: tweet]
In year one you likely don’t need:
- A fancy office
- A full-time assistant
- An office / ops mgr
- 2000+ sqft of office space
- Fancy furniture
- Lots of employees (> 10)
- Perfect design
What you do need:
A product people love in spite of its flaws.

The rest will come. Suhail [type:: tweet]
Let’s say you are 20.

Would you trade places...

— with a 80-year-old billionaire?

— with a 60-year-old billionaire?

— with a 40-year-old billionaire?

No, no, and no.

That’s how precious time is. orangebook [type:: tweet]
To discuss next week with your team:

What are the top 5 things you as a company are doing in Q1 2020 to drive up NPS?

When will they be done?

Who owns them? jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Avoiding regret is more important to life satisfaction than increasing accomplishments. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
I talk to so many talented people who are interested in starting companies. My #1 advice is to find a really painful problem to solve, then find the best tech to solve it.

My #2 advice is be open to product pivots. You might find a high-growth trend you didn’t anticipate. abarrallen [type:: tweet]
My #3 advice is to spend as much time with customers as possible. At the beginning, startups are as much about gut as about data. Use customers as your design partners, and create a product a small group of people can’t live without. abarrallen [type:: tweet]
10 years ago, I was working 12 hour days running a single business.

10 years later, my business partner Chris and I live the life of retirees.

Yet:

We now own 20 majority owned businesses.

With over 400 employees.

And 80 minority investments.

Plus a bakery and hotel. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Gossip is a currency people often use in powerless workplace environments to feel powerful.

A truly empowered place sees a decline of this currency being used.

Culture can be assessed at water coolers checking what % of chat over there is about people or ideas. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
If life is a video game, the graphics are great, but the plot is confusing & the tutorial is way too long elonmusk [type:: tweet]
Really, it takes the competition 3 years to catch up

But you've also given them a roadmap

Hyper-agile teams get so much done in those 3 years

The rest sort of struggle to keep up with bugs, gaps, debt, etc. jasonlk [type:: tweet]
You don't win the game by playing fair.

You win it by designing a new game in which you own all the pieces, then convincing the world to play. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
$1m ARR, growing 6% MoM = good product

$1m ARR, growing 10% MoM = product-market fit

$1m ARR, growing 15%+ MoM = market pull jasonlk [type:: tweet]
2020: GBM

Get
Better
Mentors

SaaS is a playbook

Plenty of folks now know what you are going through
- Find at least 1
- Give her some shares
- Go to her office every 60 days
- Send her a few candidates to screen
- Discuss the irreversible decisions
- Plan victory jasonlk [type:: tweet]
First time founders think 90% product and 10% distribution. Second time founders think 50% product and 50% distribution. Need obsess about how you reach customers as much as how you will delight them. bksun [type:: tweet]
Productivity is simply getting the result you want. If you get the result you want, then you are productive.

If you don’t get the result you want, then you’re not productive.

When you define productivity this way, it keeps you from confusing being “busy” with productivity. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
in 2005, @paulg discovered an arbitrage opportunity by identifying that young technical founders were being overlooked

in 2019, with the rise of no-code & the intense focus on technical founders, perhaps the pendulum has swung + a new arbitrage opp is biz&product minded founders eriktorenberg [type:: tweet]
When employees feel like they belong, they perform 56% better, turnover risk drops 50%, and sick days usage is reduced by 75%. For a 10,000-person company, this would result in annual savings of more than $52 million. https://t.co/peHT1D41xc HarvardBiz [type:: tweet]
The key to creating a happy and satisfied life is learning to get the results you want rather than the results that other people want you to have. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Instead of asking customers what they’d like to see in the future, instead ask what they’d like removed. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
As we head into 2020, one simple question to reflect on is whether the things you're doing right now will get you where you want to go. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
One way to avoid #procrastination is to track your daily time.
I found #timecamp is one of the best tool. I have ever used for tracking my work time.

Thanks @timecamp

#programming #coderlife #freelancers #developer #softwaredeveloper #wordpress #technology #programmers 1naveengiri [type:: tweet]
Trying to please everyone is a guaranteed prescription for unhappiness.

The first step toward emotional freedom is realizing that you're not for everyone. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Your time has monetary value to advertisers, influencers, and Netflix.

It should have a deeper value to you.

It is your life.

Don’t give it away too cheaply. TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet]
2/ Think about your week & bucket all activities into a matrix: Time (A lot of time, Little time) vs. Importance (Very, Not very)

I extended "importance" to add Distracting & Relaxing as well.

This will make you reflect on your priorities in life. https://t.co/XNmb8EG6vL Suhail [type:: tweet]
Trend that nobody is talking about: Curation is a profitable business now.

My favorite examples:

• @Earth curates images.
• @FarnamStreet curates ideas.
• @TheBrowser curates articles.

Good taste is a real business model.

The future we dreamed about is finally here. david_perell [type:: tweet]
Consider: millions of years ago our antecedents gave a massive sacrifice of their left hemisphere.

We lost a tremendous amount of short term memory and replaced it with Broca’s, Wernicke & the phonological loop.

But why?

So we can—talk.

Thus chimpanzees can do this—we can’t: https://t.co/CDznxg37p1 BrianRoemmele [type:: tweet]
Many if not most "luxury brands" prey upon people who have lots of money but don't know how to live, and hope they can use cost as a sort of compass to guide them to the good life. paulg [type:: tweet]
In 1956 "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information” by George A. Miller of Harvard University was published.

It was a landmark of human memory research.

Bell Labs adopted memory chunking in phone numbers (xxx)-xxx-xxxx https://t.co/SDsB22DRNu BrianRoemmele [type:: tweet]
Startups that play defense lose. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Working on a startup feels like https://t.co/QAft2mZeN1 garrytan [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/2plKCjRHbc kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Do you send your boss a weekly email, every single week, with what got done, and what didn't, and what you need?

No?

Well, then it's all on you jasonlk [type:: tweet]
@jasonlk PPP - Progress, Plans and Problems udivaks [type:: tweet]
@paulg Even at scale, measuring a wide variety of metrics will rarely sound the alarm bells loudly & quickly enough when there's a steadily growing minority of unhappy users that will soon become the majority.

It is often still better to just talk to ~20 users. Suhail [type:: tweet]
I've noticed this with startups, especially Airbnb. When they started YC, they were only about 4 tweaks from taking off like a rocket, but as far as they (or I) could tell, they were dead. paulg [type:: tweet]
The tricky thing about selling enterprise productivity tools is that (sadly) nobody gets fired because the employees aren't a little more productive. So you either need to create a bottom-up freemium groundswell or solve an immediate pain that a VP is willing to pay for. DavidSacks [type:: tweet]
Great quote from @paultoo: "A ... problem that I see a lot is premature scaling—founders take a small business that isn't really working... and then scale it up because they want impressive growth numbers.“ mwseibel [type:: tweet]
Our desires would diminish drastically if we didn’t need to impress anyone. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Unpopular opinion: Too many people praise “learning.”

MAKING things is a better use of time.

Building an audience around your interests is THE cheat code.

Write articles.

Record videos.

Publish podcasts.

Plus, making things will make you learn faster anyways. david_perell [type:: tweet]
Time spent honing the pitch is better spent working on the product.

Good investors use your pitch to size you up, not to understand or appreciate the business. naval [type:: tweet]
Market Cap per Employee...
Visa: $23 million
Netflix: $21 mil.
Facebook: $15 mil.
Apple: $10.2 mil.
Google: $8.9 mil.
Microsoft: $8.9 mil.
Exxon Mobil: $4.1 mil.
J&J: $2.9 mil.
JP Morgan: $1.7 mil.
Berkshire Hathaway: $1.4 mil.
Amazon: $1.2 mil.
Disney: $1.2 mil.
Walmart: $140k charliebilello [type:: tweet]
A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to create anything great.

(by @naval) momentum_burst [type:: tweet]
Your first 100 customers will come through cold emails and warm intros.

The next 1,000 will come from their referrals.

You’ll reach 10,000 as your product slowly becomes the default for a use case.

And 100,000 when it’s the default for a whole industry. shl [type:: tweet]
How do you know if you have that fabled ✨Product/Market Fit✨?

I've collected the top 10 best descriptions of PMF I've come across in the thread below, sorted by most to least concrete.

If you have any others you've found useful, particularly pre-product, please share below 👇 lennysan [type:: tweet]
12a/ @bhorowitz: "PMF isn’t a one-time, discrete point in time that announces itself with trumpet fanfares. Competitors arrive, markets segment and evolve, and stuff happens—..." lennysan [type:: tweet]
13a/ @ev: "Though the difference between no product/market fit and some product/market fit is night and day, having “fit” is not exactly a binary thing. It’s multi-dimensional. You can have strong fit with a segment of your market and weaker fit with another... lennysan [type:: tweet]
13b/ ...You can have strong fit for one particular use case and no fit for another. The more superior your product is for more jobs-to-be-done for more people, the stronger your 'fit.'"
https://t.co/OJmg1MWCfv lennysan [type:: tweet]
A good way to be unsure about something is to ask for one more opinion. More opinions often lead to indecision, not clarity. If necessary, ask for a few, add your own, make a call, and move on. Nearly all decisions are temporary, but stalling is permanent time lost. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Interesting how many smart people believe that advertising doesn’t work.

Ads work, on everyone. It’s not a $600 billion/year industry by accident. shl [type:: tweet]
Code is expensive.

Code breaks.
Code has bugs.
Code has security risks.
Code needs to be maintained.

If you can do something without code, do it without code. shl [type:: tweet]
#askJF How do you validate your product features/business ideas? Is it just a gut feeling you have, or maybe you do some research (how?), customer interviews (how many?), or any other product discovery techniques (which ones)? bolchowka [type:: tweet]
Q: #askJF How do you validate your product features/business ideas? Is it just a gut feeling you have, or maybe you do some research (how?), customer interviews (how many?), or any other product discovery techniques (which ones)?
- @bolchowka
A: https://t.co/7gQzF8owY2 jasonfried [type:: tweet]
@BrianNorgard https://t.co/9A10oEw6GV kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
"Children are happy because: 1) They're not self conscious 2) They lack a sense of time pressure 3) They've no goals. The bottom line is they are living from moment to moment, and the mind is not there to interfere in their bliss." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
90% of strategy is execution.
90% of execution is people. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Concepts everyone should understand:

— Schelling point
— Ergodicity
— Social signaling
— Incentive
— Mimetic desire
— Randomness
— Power law
— Cognitive biases
— Antifragility
— Momentum
— Zero-sum game

What else? orangebook [type:: tweet]
Going fully remote was nice, but the real benefit was in going fully asynchronous. Here are a list of the benefits we've seen at @Gumroad:

A thread 👇🏽 shl [type:: tweet]
Had lunch with a friend who mentioned @thinkcell

Founded in 2002
Plug-in on top of Microsoft Office Powerpoint
750,000+ paid users
$100m+ Revenue - almost 99% margin
29 FTE
From Germany
Founders owned, no external backers

If you know any other companies like this let me know etiennexyz [type:: tweet]
Work hard to get your thinking clear to make it simple. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Rich people own stocks. Poor people own houses. https://t.co/szmO4OhI2o SamRo [type:: tweet]
"There are no bad ideas in tech, only bad timing" @pmarca

Think the timing is finally right for the Airbnb of storage.

Excited for a16z's investment in Neighbor.

https://t.co/W3F5JE5Z8v DCoolican [type:: tweet]
Wealth is the power to choose.

Financial wealth is the power to choose how to spend money.

Social wealth is the power to choose who to hang out with.

Calendar wealth is the power to choose how to spend your time.

Mental wealth is the power to choose your thoughts. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
I see PM core responsibilities as:
1. Represent the user
2. Champion business case
3. Make sure everyone around project is heard, bought in and happy
4. Help project converge on deadline
Others can do this work, too! Ultimately, PM fills whatever team gaps exist to achieve (4) zoink [type:: tweet]
Understand, don't memorize. 🧠 ProfFeynman [type:: tweet]
We need a word for the feeling of when you put off a single task for weeks, possibly months and when you finally do it, it literally takes 30 seconds madelineorr [type:: tweet]
Hard work is the engine. Strategy is the GPS.

It’s difficult to get anywhere without hard work. If the engine stops running, progress stalls.

But you’ll waste a lot of gas without a good strategy. It’s easier to make progress when you’re following the optimal path. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Atlassian breaks down its view on market size:

🧠800 million knowledge workers
🤓100 million technical professionals
😮50 million registered Trello users
💻23 million software developers

👉Software devs make up only ~3% of all knowledge workers! https://t.co/6SVGurK4jU jonbma [type:: tweet]
Become a better communicator overnight:
- Replace every “but” you can with an “and”
- Never start a sentence with “no” or “disagree”
- Only give feedback if there’s a chance it will be implemented
- Tell people you will be late before you are late
- Bias to overcommunicating shl [type:: tweet]
@tanayj The most powerful apps today are the ones that enable you to prototype and iterate your ideas quickly...while leveraging an existing userbase. For non-mission critical systems, tools like @notionHQ are powerful, and for mission-critical systems, you can try @Rintagi (open source) cryptolin [type:: tweet]
The #1 cause of startup death is making something no one wants. The #2 cause is spending too much. Those two account for so many deaths that I'm not even sure what #3 is.

If you merely make something people want and don't spend too much, you're way ahead. paulg [type:: tweet]
@paulg Problem - the symptom or disease. It has to exist.
Product - the medicine. It needs to actually work.
Position - the pill/syringe/saw. Go for the pill or the patch.

Most people don't buy products, they buy positioning. The delivery medium for the medicine. evanlapointe [type:: tweet]
The complexity of anything can be reduced at least 3 times.
1. The simplest possible explanation of reality.
2. A story.
3. A metaphor.
Depending on the audience, pick the right one. But avoid describing reality as simpler than it really is. That's a huge mistake. evanlapointe [type:: tweet]
Separate your "must-dos" from your "like-to-dos" and don't mistakenly slip any "like-to-dos" onto the first list. #principleoftheday https://t.co/GQnRYuLmip RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Every job that can be made remote-work-capable will be. @balajis

A powerful insight because today remote work is viewed mostly through the lens of the startup community.

As software eats the world, expect all industries to follow—even those where presence appears fundamental. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Signs of A 🔥 VC:
1. Don’t go to (most) conferences
2. Their founders rave
3. Very fast decisonmaking
4. Generally cool footwear
5. Incredible listeners
6. Very aggressive on hot deals
7. Partnership diversity
8. Uncommon conviction
9. Uncommon sourcing
10. Team players RMB [type:: tweet]
In a world of OKRs, there are some product improvements that will never make your list of “things to work on” but you know will make your customers happy.
- Animations in fun moments
- Reducing copy
- Better control over push notifications
Make time for these projects too. jmj [type:: tweet]
If your keep focusing on negativity, focusing on what’s not right, focusing on how everthing will go wrong, there’s no possible way you’ll succeed.

If your mind focuses on the negative it buries any thought or idea of how to solve your problem.

Mindset is everything.

Capisce? DrRalphNap [type:: tweet]
Happy to announce that the #GPS tracking feature is now released for the open beta! 🎉🛰️
Sign up for a free 30-day trial and find out how awesome it is! 👉 https://t.co/DTNQyFvebu
https://t.co/z4dbYYq8M2 timecamp [type:: tweet]
Thoughts come and go like a thief in an empty house.
There is nothing to be gained or lost.
~ Padampa Sangye

#LamaSuryaDas #TheAmericanLama #Dzogchen #NaturalGreatPerfection #AwakeningtheBuddhaWithin https://t.co/sfHkO9gID7 LamaSuryaDas [type:: tweet]
One of my favorite quotes of all-time...

“Most geniuses—especially those who lead others—prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities but by exploiting unrecognized simplicities.”

—Andy Benoit BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Schwartzman's three tests for starting a business:

1)"It’s as hard to start and run a small business as it is to start a big one... If you’re going to dedicate your life to a business, which is the only way it will ever work, you should choose one with the potential to be huge.” dhaber [type:: tweet]
Everyone makes mistakes. The main difference is that successful people learn from them and unsuccessful people don’t. By creating an environment in which it's okay to safely make mistakes so people can learn from them, you’ll see rapid progress and fewer significant mistakes. https://t.co/Dxigp39KGf RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Does you company have a futurist and historian?

In 1988 Isaac Azimov explained why this is so vital.

Since the industrial revolution the rate of change continues to become—orders of magnitude higher.

An accurate futurist and historian will guide you.

https://t.co/SUnjtYKcKJ BrianRoemmele [type:: tweet]
The coronavirus is introducing millions of people to remote work across the world. It's an acceleration of a future where all knowledge work is remote. This will be an incredible future, where people will have more freedom and do better work 🙌 https://t.co/BbqOzVfGBg amix3k [type:: tweet]
People typically feel bad about their mistakes because they think in a shortsighted way about the bad outcome & not about the evolutionary process of which mistakes are an integral part. Every mistake you make & learn from will save you from similar mistakes in the future. https://t.co/0ow6Mv8Xdo RayDalio [type:: tweet]
As a CEO, your job is actually to do nothing.

CEOs who actually perform duties within their companies are failing.

Your job is to set strategy and culture, delegate, and incentivize.

Same goes for executives. You are just more focused mini-CEOs, who report up. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
“This makes the broad assumption that they’re right about the strategy, the execution and the revenue prediction.” https://t.co/ycVFlOJ2Nk https://t.co/f19dgKQYFm jboogie [type:: tweet]
Peace is the mood of knowing that whatever comes will also go.

Therefore there is no need to be particularly bothered by anything.

This kind of awareness also keeps you from chasing after things that seem to give permanent happiness but are only mirages on the horizon. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Every child should be taught that life is unfair so that we don't end up with a bunch of adults who act like the world owes them something. iam_preethi [type:: tweet]
Ability to learn from mistakes compounds abilities.

Learning from mistakes is a skill that’s acquired by deliberate effort and never living in denial.

Most humans keep repeating same mistakes as they jump to non nuanced and non analytical conclusions when a mistake is made. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
@hnshah I created a top down system called GYST (get your shit together). I use it to plan from the future backwards. Gives me a crystal clear picture about what’s important (and not) today, this week, month, quarter, year and 5 years. My tasks are pebbles & sand between those rocks. evanlapointe [type:: tweet]
Prediction:

We are going to see a lot of pain in the non-critical mid market SaaS tools market as businesses cut costs:

InVision - $50k/yr -> Figma (built in + already pay for)

Hootsuite - $50k/yr -> Buffer for free/cheap

Box/Dropbox -$50k/yr - > Google Drive free/cheap awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Look up at the sky tonight.

The moon and stars you see are the same ones that every person before you looked at.

Your parents.

Your grandparents.

Alexander the Great.

Marcus Aurelius.

Seneca.

Take a moment to pause and close your eyes.

You will feel the connection. forgeofman [type:: tweet]
The online course arbitrage.

People will pay $10-20 for a book, but those same people will pay $1,000-2,000 for the same information in a live video format.

The lesson: People want more than information.

They also want inspiration, accountability and friends to learn with. david_perell [type:: tweet]
You are missing the plot if you don't understand growth:

‘The climate was warmer before’
– It’s the rate at which the temperature increases!

‘This startup is tiny, why is it worth $2 billion’
– Look at their growth rate

‘only 1000 cases of COVID-19’
– It's the growth rate! MaxCRoser [type:: tweet]
We wtorek zdecydowaliśmy o wdrożeniu w firmie obowiązkowej pracy zdalnej ze względu na koronawirusa. W czwartek 100% zespołu będzie pracowało w modelu home office. Case study TimeCamp. https://t.co/tNj6iExI1t mamstartup [type:: tweet]
You cannot create a new company by defining how much money you intend on making.

So what makes so many people think you can create strategy for an existing company that way? evanlapointe [type:: tweet]
Some decisions are best made after acquiring more information; some are best made immediately. #principleoftheday https://t.co/J2wdTTCPSw RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Smart people waste little time arguing,

because they know a few hours of talking can’t replace years of real education. orangebook [type:: tweet]
9 Mindsets That Ruin Your Life:
1. Waiting for the "right time"
2. Convincing yourself it won't work
3. Doubting your abilities
4. Talking down to yourself
5. Hesitating
6. Procrastinating
7. Mistreating your body
8. Letting fear get the best of you
9. Taking things personally MattSStephens [type:: tweet]
This is so well done https://t.co/syAqgnc23c JoeFernandez [type:: tweet]
Don’t just get things done.
Get the right things done. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Fascinating paper (1997)

"When we reach a world in which the average piece of information is never looked at by a human, we will need to know how to evaluate everything automatically to decide what should get the precious resource of human attention."

https://t.co/nSZxqZFDAA Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Something very strange is going on with the numbers.
1. China says no new cases
2. People are running scenarios saying 10m-100m dead
3. Italy is in chaos but deaths are leveling out
4. Korea, China & Singapore are back to normal in 6-8 weeks?
None of this adds up. #coronavirus Jason [type:: tweet]
You only have so much time and energy; make sure you are investing them in exploring the problems that, if ﬁxed, will yield you the biggest results. But at the same time, make sure you spend enough time with the small problems to make sure they’re not symptoms of larger ones. https://t.co/QMrrv1OOxx RayDalio [type:: tweet]
It isn’t 10,000 hours that creates outliers, it’s 10,000 iterations. naval [type:: tweet]
@naval It isn't 10,000 experiences that creates wisdom, its 10,000 reflections. KyleTibbitts [type:: tweet]
Coronavirus increasingly appears likely to be the worst natural disaster in decades.

I don't think it is yet appreciated how much it directly and indirectly attacks infrastructure, distinct from most disasters. patio11 [type:: tweet]
When people say, "they like you" it really means that, they like the stories they have made up about you. awareness_being [type:: tweet]
When you edit your sentences, remember the acronym CLEAR.
1. Connect to the previous sentence.
2. Link to the following sentence.
3. Eliminate anything that adds confusion.
4. Add colorful details.
5. Remove unnecessary words.
Make your writing CLEAR — one sentence at a time. david_perell [type:: tweet]
Replace positivity with peace.

When positivity dies, negativity lives.

Peace is the absence of doubt and struggle.

Peace is a satisfaction that comes from accepting the moment in its entirety.

Right here, right now.

If you look elsewhere, you will only find desire. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]

Bezos banned ppt presentations and bullet points since 2004. I always thought that was a bit restrictive, but now I do see some of the rationale. 1/n GwenCheni [type:: tweet]
Timeless wisdom.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." — Cicero Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The practice of meditation is like the adult who reminds the child of what is real and what is not. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Look at things in terms of growth rather than perfection. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
A peaceful morning.

A great novel.

Your limitless imagination.

This is also happiness. orangebook [type:: tweet]
Living on essentials gives you a great visibility on what’s extra. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
This is how to make progress . . . (via @tomgauld): https://t.co/BvOL21cXmR DanielPink [type:: tweet]
Remember this: The pain is all in your head. If you want to evolve, you need to go where the problems and the pain are. By confronting the pain, you will see more clearly the paradoxes and problems you face. Reﬂecting on them and resolving them will give you wisdom. https://t.co/gzOpaBO1es RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Troche nienormalne. Łapię się na tym, że nawet na weekendy oglądam sesje klientów w GA i Hotjarze. Podpatruję rozmowy na Intercom. Sprawdzam nowe projekcje sprzedaży w naszej hurtowni danych Cluvio. Wstyd się przyznać, ale po prawie 10 latach prowadzenia firmy nadal to kocham. sadek [type:: tweet]
A simple explanation for why “estimations” and timeline-based “roadmaps” don’t work, is that product development isn’t a scheduling problem but an explore/exploit problem.

Time isn’t the constraint, but knowledge.

Knowledge that isn’t currently “priced in” to the market. astralwave [type:: tweet]
Being up-to-date on the news is a trap.

Five minutes a day is all you need. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Be careful with your 'Yes'.
Be kind and clear with your 'No'. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Always do the simplest thing that can possibly work. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Noise is the enemy of introspection. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Rapid shipping cadence is essential. If you don’t ship, you don’t learn. When you don’t learn, you become a product speculator. I know zero successful product speculators. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
"Take a simple idea and take it seriously."
—Charlie Munger

Doing a few sets of pushups each day is a simple idea.

Saving at least 10% of your income is a simple idea.

Sending Thank You notes is a simple idea.

...but most people don't take simple ideas seriously. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Most people cannot “follow a routine” to achieve an important goal.

It’s the foundation for most people’s lack of success. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Something I explained to my 11 yo: The biggest division in work may be between jobs that involve making new stuff (science, engineering) and those that don't (administration, sales), and you'll be a lot happier if you end up on the side you're suited for. paulg [type:: tweet]
Stress comes when you do multiple things at once with expectation.

Peace comes when you do one thing at once with intention. 5harath [type:: tweet]
The purpose of life is finding the largest burden that you can bear and bearing it.

— Jordan B Peterson menofveritas [type:: tweet]
"Ask yourself at every moment, Is this necessary?" Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Because of the different ways that our brains are wired, we all experience reality in different ways and any single way is essentially distorted. This is something that we need to acknowledge and deal with. https://t.co/KMcQlY3pjH RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Business writing 101.

∙ Shorten your sentences.
∙ Make your point fast.
∙ Shorten the introduction.
∙ Use simple words.
∙ Add graphs and statistics.
∙ No buzzwords.
∙ Use more periods, fewer commas.
∙ Write for skimming, not deep reading.
∙ Bold the main takeaways. david_perell [type:: tweet]
EVERYONE should learn sales.

You can have the best idea in the world...

But if you can't:

-communicate effectively
-build trust
-adapt
-win anyone over

It may as well be worthless. MattSStephens [type:: tweet]
Meditation it’s not the absence of thoughts. It’s the absence of any discomfort attached to those thoughts. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The 5 Reasons You’re Underachieving:
1. Your goals aren’t crystal clear.
2. You’re not seeking out people with a Winners Mindset.
3. You haven’t defined your most important next steps.
4. You don’t have your tasks written on a calendar.
5. You give up too easily. DrRalphNap [type:: tweet]
Pain without purpose is torture.
Pain with a purpose is a price. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Don’t talk about problems you have no intention of solving. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
People prefer unhappiness over uncertainty. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Good companies obsess about beating the competition. Great companies obsess about what's best for the customer. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Many people fear that being direct and straightforward with those in their life might damage their relationships with them,

Never pausing to consider how damaging it is that they’ve consented to relationships with people that expect them to repress their thoughts and feelings. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Productivity is found in what you leave undone. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." — Sun Tzu https://t.co/P5b7PZTG3R visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
If a decision is reversible, the biggest risk is moving too slow.

If a decision is irreversible, the biggest risk is moving too fast. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
If you want to get to the root of a problem, look for the thing that no one really wants to talk about. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
"Everyone is brave in a battle which someone else is fighting." - @Kpaxs thekaizenbot [type:: tweet]
Business is not a spreadsheet, and you don’t know that until you’ve actually run one.

Finance Types: “Then, we just increase margin by 500 basis points...”

Margin is not an Excel cell. Margin usually = people. And people are messy.

Via @BrentBeshore awilkinson [type:: tweet]
@ShaneAParrish “Easy choices, hard life.

Hard choices, easy life.”

–Jerzy Gregoric awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Prioritization seems to consistently come up as product people’s #1 challenge.

How do you prioritize? hnshah [type:: tweet]
@hnshah Prioritization suggests you know what is valuable ahead of time before you do it. Most product work isn’t like that. They’re like bets, often with its true expected value unknown (but not unknowable). astralwave [type:: tweet]
Dzisiaj na pytanie #coukreatywnych odpowiada Kamil Rudnicki - założyciel @timecamp - aplikacji internetowej, stworzonej do monitorowania komputerowej aktywności jej użytkowników, przeznaczona zarówno dla freelancerów, jak i zespołów❗

#50kreatywnych https://t.co/HvvG2DP0w9 BriefPolska [type:: tweet]
Stop focusing on thinking.
Start focusing on doing.
Done is better than perfect. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
People tend to question everything, except for things that they truly believe. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The world wants you to be distracted. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
11/ "Common stock investors can make money by predicting outcomes of practice evolution. You can’t derive this by fundamental analysis — you must think biologically. I find it quite useful to think of a partly free market economy—as sort of the equivalent of an ecosystem." trengriffin [type:: tweet]
12/ “It is undeniably true that the human brain must work in models. The trick is to have your brain work better than the other person’s brain because it understands the most fundamental models: ones that will do most work per unit.” trengriffin [type:: tweet]
People will jump through a lot of hoops and friction to use your product if the value proposition aligns with a really timely and strong need for them. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Best way to run a bunch of stuff? Don’t put yourself in charge of everything. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Every decision you have made has either been fear or growth.

A growth-based decision becomes the story of your life later.

A fear-based decision turns into regret. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
It often takes just as much work to go after a mediocre opportunity as it does a great one. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
@pranav6082 @paraschopra I was referring to the personality type - entrepreneurial vs managerial. SprihaBiswas [type:: tweet]
May 2019. I wrote my first marketing article. A year later my email list hit 19,000.

No ads. No connections. No existing audience.

The site grew because I learnt how to push my content round the internet.

THREAD ... GoodMarketingHQ [type:: tweet]
The ultimate test of your knowledge is your capacity to transfer it to another. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Stop needing to know, rest in uncertainty. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Either we agree on how to measure it, or it becomes politics. naval [type:: tweet]
What's your top tip to take friction out of your sales processes? jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Useful framework by @paulg on how to disagree with someone in person or online. You’ll notice most people stick to the bottom of pyramid approach and that never results in a good outcome for any party involved. https://t.co/jqQt1eAdNw kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
If you don’t guard your time, everyone will waste it for you. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
If you’ve been leading people in an organization for more than a year or two and you know how to do their job better than them, you’re the problem. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
The search for “better” is something you will take with you to the grave. RealJamesPierce [type:: tweet]
Aerobic exercise training for 12 months led to a 47% improvement in memory and increased blood flow (at rest) to the hippocampus and other brain regions in individuals 60 years and older with memory problems. https://t.co/ewbN99STyK foundmyfitness [type:: tweet]
My favorite Munger line is:

“Fish where the fish are”

It’s so simple.

Fish in a lake crowded with expert fishermen and you’re unlikely to catch many fish.

Fish in a quiet fishing hole off the beaten path with few competitors and ample fish and it’s hard NOT to do well. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Transparency is only a risky strategy if you're building a commodity. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
what is the maximum # of priorities one should have?

probably 100.

one simple way to increase productivity is to say no to anything not in your top 100. one would be amazed how much time we spend outside of the top 100. auren [type:: tweet]
Build a business that gives you more free time as you grow david_perell [type:: tweet]
@naval Efficiency in this hyper connected world reduces the number of players/sellers/companies required to play any game. We often forget inefficiency is the largest employer of the world. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Clear writing is concise writing.

• In order to → To
• In spite of → Despite
• A number of → Some
• In the event that → If
• The majority of → Most
• Has the opportunity to → Can
• Despite the fact that → Although GoodMarketingHQ [type:: tweet]
The more stuff you own, the more time and attention it requires. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Don't be afraid of losing people. Be afraid of losing yourself while trying to please everyone around you. DamianProsa [type:: tweet]
Kids learn what’s important to adults not by listening to what they say, but by noticing what gets their attention. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
It's better to start something and risk looking like an idiot than sit there and accomplish nothing. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
@awilkinson It's a fallacy to think that the fact that x% of startups fail implies that your probability of failing is x%. It's more a reflection of the distribution of ability among the people who start them. paulg [type:: tweet]
Reading is a hidden form of procrastination for most people. joserosado [type:: tweet]
@pradologue @joserosado No, it's a fear procastination Rohit_arn [type:: tweet]
@joserosado I love to read.

The modern diet consists of a heaping dose of information coalesced with research.

My challenge is striking a balance between what I think I need to know before producing and creating with what I already know azeehussain [type:: tweet]
Every time you buy something, you are not paying with your money, but with your time. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Pure true/false values are a useful fiction. In reality, the truth is probabilistic.

The most interesting ideas might be those that are slightly more likely to be wrong than right. These are beyond what most are willing to consider, but could very well be right. mmay3r [type:: tweet]
@fatehshernu No need for motivation if you are high energy.

Propulsion that no motivational bullshit video could ever come close. timerunsout1 [type:: tweet]
A decisive idiot can outperform an indecisive intellectual. Wealth_Theory [type:: tweet]
Action brings more clarity than thought. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
If your product can’t be unique, your brand has to be. hnshah [type:: tweet]
COSTLY SIGNALING: THE FORGOTTEN TOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Advertisers, salespeople, and romantic suitors all know very well the importance of costly signaling.

Managers mostly do not; at least, towards their workforce.

This is a shame, because…

(thread, 1/N; continues below) DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
8/ Therefore, good managers know the importance of signaling to their workforce that it is acceptable to incur such short-term costs, because the long-term benefits of Core Values are well worth it.

(continues below) DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
Too often, people read about the incredible willpower of the likes of Michael Jordan, and imitate it.

And fail.

Willpower only works in the measure it is fueled by passion, revenge, or similar emotions which are never innate but always the result of some experience.

1/N DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
2/ Actually, willpower is the confabulation of previous emotional experiences that caused a desire to perform the very actions that brought the successes that others wish to imitate.

Willpower is not something that can be summoned at will. DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
Consensus seeking creates short-term calm and long-term confusion. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
If a decision is reversible, make it as soon as possible. If a decision is irreversible, make it as late as possible.

When the stakes are low, inaction hurts you. When the stakes are high, speed can kill you. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
A healthy person has three signs of well being: a fit body, an efficient mind, and a calm soul. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
⁣Two people who collaborate well will be about three times as eﬀective as each of them operating independently, because each will see what the other might miss—plus they can leverage each other’s strengths while holding each other accountable to higher standards. https://t.co/7iEWjeN9Tq RayDalio [type:: tweet]
It seems like every activity humans enjoy is about one thing:

Creating a flow state.

Quieting the mind enough to focus on a single thought or task.

Less flow state = bad day

More flow state = good day awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Perfectionists spend too much time on little differences at the margins at the expense of the important things. #PrincipleOfTheDay https://t.co/sR66bkuELr RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Don’t be discouraged: the default state of new ideas is that they won’t work. Finding something that will is going to take many more attempts. justinkan [type:: tweet]
A CEO’s first job is to get the company capitalized.

A CEO’s second job is to recruit a team.

A CEO’s third job is to provide them with clarity so they can solve their customers' problems.

A CEO’s fourth job is to get out of the way until one of the above is no longer true. shl [type:: tweet]
Working with who you want to work with, on what you want to work on, is actually just play. naval [type:: tweet]
Most people think they lack knowledge when they really lack focus. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Outcome ≠ Effort awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Don't persuade. Let the reader be persuaded https://t.co/02EzmcfQse GoodMarketingHQ [type:: tweet]
TEAMS ARE ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS

People adapt to their work environment and to the actions of their manager.

For example, motivation is the rational adaptation to a work environment where one’s business results bring positive outcomes (acknowledgment, promotion, etc.)

(thread, 1/N) DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
Thinking that estimatation is necessary becuase it uncovers the fact that we don't fully understand a problem is waterfall thinking at its worst. We need to understand only enough to start. A need to know everyting BEFORE starting just adds delays. We learn the rest as we work. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Lesson Learned:

I've found that my life is what I believe it is, and becomes what I believe it will become.

My body responds to what I believe. Positive thoughts and beliefs lead to positive outcomes. Negative thoughts and beliefs lead to negative outcomes.

1/2 TuckerMax [type:: tweet]
I only know a few copywriters and they are always busy (bc they are really good)

Who's good? I want to refer business to them. jimmy_daly [type:: tweet]
It's tough out there...

Pre COVID, 62% of employees reported positive mental health. It's now 28%. Job satisfaction from 57% to 32% and job motivation from 56% to 36%.

https://t.co/38KNCOABRu maccaw [type:: tweet]
1/ Get more done by doing less. https://t.co/nothc7lQNW visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
6/ Invest time now, earn time later. https://t.co/ZJOrtlr6Go visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
7/ If it's too easy, you're leaving opportunity on the table. https://t.co/GpBM9V5dAn visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
8/ To get nowhere, obsess over what other people think. https://t.co/w7CoJkgm6J visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
You cannot have Agile teams and anti-Agile management. The management will drag the teams into dysfunction. allenholub [type:: tweet]
The reason to win the game is so that you can be free of it. naval [type:: tweet]
More like this. https://t.co/mk4mIjhErP balajis [type:: tweet]
Happiness book that should exist:

How to live live in a way that ticks all the boxes for your cave man brain 🐵
- Have kids 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
- Be in nature 🌲
- Exercise 💪
- Create flow states 🧘‍♀️
- Eat once or twice a day 🥩
- Sleep at dark 🌅
- Socialize 👯‍♀️
Has anyone written this? awilkinson [type:: tweet]
I'm convinced most thoughts are useless.

If you judge a thought based on whether it generates a new idea or results in a decision, the vast majority of them are neurotic chatter. maccaw [type:: tweet]
What's the most expensive mistake you've made in your career, and what did you learn from it? Altimor [type:: tweet]
One of the most important product skills is to be cognizant of when you are asking the customer to think too much. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Founders are artists Suhail [type:: tweet]
Sometimes as CEO,

Your job is just to make it seem clean and simple to folks

(When of course it isn't) jasonlk [type:: tweet]
The best way to improve your ability to think is to make time and space to think. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Being right is irrelevant if you’re not also persuasive mkobach [type:: tweet]
A team with a manager is hardly self organizing. A manager's very existance sends the wrong message. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Your best marketing copy is sitting in the customer’s mind. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Many hard problems have a ratio of about 98 points of generic execution to 2 points of domain expertise, but most organizations hire on something like 20 points of weighting to horsepower versus 80 points to expertise.

This is predictable and exploitable. patio11 [type:: tweet]
My five GREATEST podcast episodes:

In honor of @spotify's Forever Favorites...

•@tferriss w/@level5leaders
•@PeterAttiaMD w/@AnnieDuke
•@ShaneAParrish w/@naval
•@patrick_oshag w/@tobi
•@ChrisWillx w/ @george__mack

Here are the 15 ideas I learned from them

MEGATHREAD... dickiebush [type:: tweet]
Natural selection is inevitable, but we can choose whether it acts on us (bad) or within us (good).

Up to a point, of course, but imagine a company:

If uncompetitive, the market's meritocracy bankrupts it

But the company can protect itself by letting meritocracy work inside it DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
If the work doesn’t require creativity, delegate it, automate it, or leave it. naval [type:: tweet]
@RationalAztec Every day I need physical energy, mental clarity, and emotional balance to tackle everything that comes my way. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
@RationalAztec Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. PhilipJBerry [type:: tweet]
Underrated skill: answering questions with the appropriate level of detail. lpolovets [type:: tweet]
Fulfilling, lucrative, low-risk. Pick two. shl [type:: tweet]
Figma may be the most complex + performant + intuitive software I have ever used. Wow.

I have been productive with this thing for days and I haven't taken a single course or needed to read the effing manual.

What developer tool is Figma-level intuitive? Is there an equivalent? swyx [type:: tweet]
A decade of hard, smart work.

The rest of your life free.

That’s a great deal. orangebook [type:: tweet]
In 2008 Facebook’s user growth hit a wall at 80M and we were having serious debates about whether any social network could ever reach 100M users. 2 years later we had doubled our user base and not long after that we reached 1B users. Here’s how we did it: DanRose999 [type:: tweet]
In the middle of this crisis, Zuck went on a 6-week “walk-about” in Asia. He hadn’t taken a break since starting FB 4 years earlier and working 100 hrs/wk, exhausted and needed to clear his head. Sheryl had recently joined and he trusted her to keep things together in his absence DanRose999 [type:: tweet]
When Zuck returned we held a tense management team offsite to debate our path forward. Some people announced their resignations at the end of the meeting. The core strategy debate boiled down to whether we should focus on growth marketing or core product development. DanRose999 [type:: tweet]
At the end of the year, Zuck announced his New Years resolution to wear a tie to work every day for 12 months, symbolizing ‘09 would be a serious year for the company. I thought he would last a month, but he never missed a single day all year. And the company executed like hell. DanRose999 [type:: tweet]
There's room for better versions of almost everything. We just don't see it because we've stopped noticing the flaws in what we have, and the complicated tricks we use to compensate for them. paulg [type:: tweet]
A company full of people saying "it will never work here" will never try anything new, so they're absolutely right that it will never work there. Can't work if you don't try it. allenholub [type:: tweet]
I’ve taken 10+ people to sensory deprivation tank sessions.

100% enjoyment rate so far.

Underrated mental health hack. https://t.co/Frjzuoz2pe george__mack [type:: tweet]
When a team takes on a story, they do whatever's necessary to get that story realized and into the customer's hands, including any learning. Note that I said "when the team takes on." Teams pull work. It's not pushed onto them. Knowledge silos prevent this way of working. allenholub [type:: tweet]
If you want superior returns, find an inefficient, illiquid, under-appreciated market, and work everyday to be one of the best investors in that market. You can live a comfortable life fishing the same small pond because you know where the fish are. iancassel [type:: tweet]
"Autonomous" means that you get to make your own decisions. It does not mean that you work alone in a locked closet and don't talk to anybody. The best autonomous teams collaborate heavily with other autonomous teams, and decide on the best means for doing that. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Ask for feedback on your attempts, not advice on your ideas. shl [type:: tweet]
You’re as good as your next decision
- @singh_sequoia kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Nobody ever said radical honesty was easy. Sometimes, especially with new employees who have not yet gotten used to it, an honest assessment feels like an attack. (1/2) https://t.co/JYl3cG96ft RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Start a company to automate your job. Your first customer can be your current employer. shl [type:: tweet]
Happiness is not the end-goal, but a daily decision that is within our control. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Where you stand is what you see. https://t.co/TjLLoRoFQM visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Own time, or time will own you. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Because many people have had questions about my principles about managing a team during ambiguous times, I’m passing them along to you in one package. To get these principles and more check out the Coach tool in the free app, Principles in Action: https://t.co/QbIij4ydr3 (1/2) https://t.co/gS4TpYyi8E RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Progress is deciding what to stop doing. https://t.co/87JOGIPWNl visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Every startup founder should read this: https://t.co/vSKiK7jpVb https://t.co/cW4SGOC7zj paulg [type:: tweet]
Don't stop working before it starts working. https://t.co/dWjgbgG1kl visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Two approaches to product:

Build what you think people want.
Build what you know you want. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Being responsible means not blaming others for your unhappiness. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Value your time so highly you feel pain when you waste it. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Instead of ticketing and classifying bugs, I'd think beyond the "bug" to the user story. What was the user doing that the bug prevented? That's a story. We can put it onto the backlog in the normal way and sort by user value. 1/2 allenholub [type:: tweet]
Always like to start the next work cycle kick-off with a recap of what we got done in the last 6-week cycle.

Helps to remind me that even when I feel like I'm not getting as much done as I want to be, we are actually fucking killing it 😅 https://t.co/AUior392xD adamwathan [type:: tweet]
Way more startups have died by over-building for their market vs. under-building. Always start simple then expand. levie [type:: tweet]
@levie It's not the overbuilding per se that kills them. It's that they were building instead of talking to customers, and thus built the wrong thing. But it's the absence of the right features that kills, not the presence of too many. paulg [type:: tweet]
Stock gains this year:

Zoom: +624%
Tesla: +419%
Peloton: +333%
Etsy: +231%
Docusign: +204%
Square: +199%
Shopify: +176%
Nvidia: +134%
Teladoc: +161%
Pinterest: +133%
PayPal: +82%
Amazon: +79%
Netflix: +67%
Snapchat: +65%
Salesforce: +64%
Apple: +59%
eBay: +54%
Adobe: +52% JonErlichman [type:: tweet]
How to earn trust:

1 do not lie (to others or yourself)
2 do not cheat
3 do not pretend
4 do not manipulate
5 do not hide the truth
6 say what you mean
7 deliver on promises
8 give trust
9 explain your decisions
10 share your intent
11 do not defend dishonesty
12 do not brag ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
"Reduce options. Increase focus. Multiply results." — @behaviorgap https://t.co/L89ItdfCZY visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Stages of CEO:

<$5M gross profit - Doer + firefighter
$5M-$10M - Standardizer + player-coach
$10M-$30M - Exec talent recruiter + coach
$30M - $100M - Culture guard + head of strategy
$100M+ - Stakeholder ambassador + cheerleader BrentBeshore [type:: tweet]
4 Q's I always ask myself as a leader...
- Am I creating environ. for team to do best work?
- Am I creating clarity on what needs to be done + why?
- Am I personally modeling the behavior I want to be true?
- Am I seeing things for what they are instead of what I want them to be? clairejlew [type:: tweet]
The most successful people respond to emails the fastest. mrsharma [type:: tweet]
Practice. https://t.co/IROkTwfosQ visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the last 5 years, it’s this:

Starting companies is really hard.

Tweaking existing companies to make them better is much easier and sometimes just as fun. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
@edward_gorbis @rabois The Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago. I guess that’s how long it takes for people to forget — or a new generation never to know. DavidSacks [type:: tweet]
Making people think isn’t as valuable as making people feel. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The purpose of life is to experience things for which you will later experience nostalgia. fed_speak [type:: tweet]
Most Execution problems are really
1. Strategy problems, or
2. Interpersonal problems, or
3. Culture problems
Good leaders execute well because they understand this. They fix the root problem.

Bad leaders struggle because they are always applying band-aids. shreyas [type:: tweet]
“No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.” — Daniel Kahneman https://t.co/atOMCJ39V3 visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
The ultimate test of whether you own a high quality business?

The CEO can go on vacation for 3 months unannounced, and everything keeps on running smoothly. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Microservices are such a fundamentally and catastrophically bad idea that there are going to an entire cohort of multi-billion companies built that do nothing but contain the damage that they have wrought. schrockn [type:: tweet]
“Failure.” https://t.co/jDDsmsTDVE visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
The 2 main keys of charisma are:
1. Being present in the environment.
2. Full focus on the person that you're talking to
1 leads to 2. ArmaniTalks [type:: tweet]
So, forget Scrum. Instead, identify business problems that need solving, then solve them in an agile way. For example, don't start with a huge reorg (SM's PO's and all that garbage). 3/4 allenholub [type:: tweet]
If the business problem is getting stuff out the door, start with lowering WIP and regular retros. If it's dependencies, start with cross-functional teams. If it's quality, start with TDD and #MobProgramming. Get to Agile in an Agile way—incrementally, one solution at a time. 4/4 allenholub [type:: tweet]
I never forgot this lesson, and I’ve often leaned on it when things get hard. It’s tempting to run away to something new (at work, in life). Resist that temptation - stay until your job is done, take pride in fixing what you broke, don’t hide from problems, act like an owner. DanRose999 [type:: tweet]
You don’t need mentors, you need action. naval [type:: tweet]
By knowing what is true, I mean knowing how reality works. People didn’t create the laws of nature that we have to live by in order to be successful, but if we can understand these laws we can use them to achieve our goals. (1/2) https://t.co/KoMVRHknOC RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Cold emails shouldn't be cold https://t.co/MICSivkKHv GoodMarketingHQ [type:: tweet]
Do HR, Finance and Legal make products? https://t.co/gRhUifLIhU https://t.co/LMVbyaMOlw jboogie [type:: tweet]
A simple reminder: quality work takes time https://t.co/wY6nHfB7EN ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
The path to happiness doesn’t involve adding a single thing to your life. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Time is the only true scarcity.

No one can manufacture it

No one can sell the time available to him.

No one knows how to accumulate it. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Don't tell me your priorities. Show me your calendar. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Dear managers,

Your job is not to make people work harder.

Your responsibility to help your team achieve their goals, let them know that their work matters, and then recognize and reward those who consistently help the team deliver timely, high quality and positive outcomes. ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Estimating cost has no value at all if the thing you're estimating has no value to your customer. You shouldn't be building that at all, so why are you wasting time estimating it? Focus on value. allenholub [type:: tweet]
If the cost is your peace of mind, then it is too expensive. ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Too many "agile coaches" aren't willing to do the hard work of actually correcting problems when they see them. They dance around problems, ask their "powerful questions," and play with their Legos and marshmallows. 1/3 allenholub [type:: tweet]
You get paid linearly for doing what everyone else is doing. You get paid non-linearly for correct divergence from the crowd. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Marketing gets easier when you think of it as a search function for people who already agree with you, they just haven’t met you yet. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
All systems insulated from feedback from free markets or natural forces eventually get corrupted. naval [type:: tweet]
What do you do to make your day suck less/stay productive when tired?

Any hacks? awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Stop listening to people who haven’t done what you’re trying to accomplish APompliano [type:: tweet]
Most ideas die from the overvaluation of negative feedback. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
The single most important factor to success is the ability to make things happen.

This requires determination, resourcefulness, focus, tenacity, confidence, a willingness to look like an idiot, and an ability to do the work when no one is watching. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Free people make free choices. Free choices mean you get unequal outcomes.

You can have freedom, or you can have equal outcomes. You can’t have both. naval [type:: tweet]
We’re good at fooling ourselves because it helps fool others. naval [type:: tweet]
A calm mind is not the absence of conflict or stress, but the ability to cope with it. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
'Developers are drawn to complexity like moths to a flame often with the same result.' -Neal Ford allenholub [type:: tweet]
Great products are built by saying no 99% of the time.

Great teams are built by saying no 99% of the time.

Great portfolios are built by saying no 99% of the time. shl [type:: tweet]
Three word content strategy:

Document your evolution. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
@mattbarcomb https://t.co/ZpJxPDkP9h jseiden [type:: tweet]
Too many desires leads to anxiety

Few desires leads to movement

1 big desire leads to legacy ArmaniTalks [type:: tweet]
Resist. https://t.co/OSvJnLd8eD visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
“Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument.” ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Work vs. luck. https://t.co/kGpFIkG2r0 visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Dealing with Darwin book. Every CEO of a successful company will love it! https://t.co/2aG5SJrNq7 tomik99 [type:: tweet]
I have a personal programming rule I always follow: it must be possible to entirely replace an implementation of some unit without impacting the clients of that unit. (Tests count as clients.) I call that the "replacement principle." It's done me good service over the years. allenholub [type:: tweet]
If you aren’t curious about it, you’ll never be good at it. naval [type:: tweet]
What are some good interview questions to know if someone has good judgement? kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
What am I missing? gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
In the long run, the way you treat your time is the way others treat it too. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Many of you have told me you’re interested in using your mistakes to help you evolve, so I’m sharing my principles for learning from mistakes here.

I also recommend that you check out the Coach tool in my free app, Principles In Action. (1/2) https://t.co/PNltEkqSEx RayDalio [type:: tweet]
"Never ask your barber if he thinks you need a haircut"

–Warren Buffett awilkinson [type:: tweet]
I keep seeing these ridiculous "roadmaps." A firm plan for what you're going to do for the next year (or whatever) is in no way Agile or agile or even slightly valuable. 1/3 allenholub [type:: tweet]
In practice, good intentions rarely work as well as good incentives. paulg [type:: tweet]
Everyone makes mistakes. The main difference is that successful people learn from them and unsuccessful people don’t. By creating an environment in which it's okay to safely make mistakes so that people can learn from them, you’ll see rapid progress and fewer significant mistakes https://t.co/xTYDWfIbGR RayDalio [type:: tweet]
not a bad investment thesis... https://t.co/cUCzQb6aOY semil [type:: tweet]
Keep going. https://t.co/hJIFiKnuYC visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
A culture of trust and experimentation works better than one of accountability and blame any day. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Happy Thanksgiving

About 10yrs ago, this section from The Black Swan changed how I look at the world. Try not to be the turkey. https://t.co/LuA8jFK8WO dvassallo [type:: tweet]
Breaking down my recent post:

1/ @scale_AI, I interviewed everyone we gave an offer to for a long time. I wrote a memo to the company about what I look for. I wanted to share it with the community because I don’t think people do this enough.

Thread👇
https://t.co/Da5OFUATWT alexandr_wang [type:: tweet]
If you're focused on the goal, excited about achieving it, and recognize that doing some undesirable tasks to achieve the goal is required, you will have the right perspective and will be appropriately motivated. (1/3) https://t.co/dw4yFegeZq RayDalio [type:: tweet]
@philosophyio Hunt or be hunted. itsmeVishnuG [type:: tweet]
@philosophyio “Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.” - Bruce Lee ArtfulPrudence [type:: tweet]
@philosophyio Dont use others and never get used by anyone. Sumit_2311 [type:: tweet]
Normalize building without permission. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
"If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing." — W. Edwards Deming. https://t.co/zBT2KnCs1u visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
"Life is trying things to see if they work." — Ray Bradbury https://t.co/uL0jU92p3n visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
“Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man. Capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man.” — Walter Williams, RIP pmarca [type:: tweet]
When faced with a decision:
- Know that lack of action is a decision.
- Decide to decide.
- Make room for error.
- Create contingency plans based on input, not fear.
- See your decisions as points on a data line, not as absolutes.
- Minimize undue blame and regret. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The quality of your life primarily depends on the quality of your decisions in pursuit of your goals. Here are some principles I have found helpful in achieving my goals. (1/2) https://t.co/vKA5PSOlsB RayDalio [type:: tweet]
"When making plans, think big. When making progress, think small." — @JamesClear https://t.co/dzOH62WR9F visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Hard work is what we do when we don’t know what we’re good at. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
The more a product feels like a game, the better the odds for success. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
If you had only one interview question to assess someone’s hunger and aptitude for learning, what would it be? JoeFernandez [type:: tweet]
Iterate. https://t.co/s2OWUCvqFr visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Smart people are not offended by the truth. ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
“As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better.” ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
This is how easy it is to Psyop

Remember: The opposite of Courage in our society is not Cowardice, it's Conformity ellobosalvaje [type:: tweet]
“No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.” — Daniel Kahneman https://t.co/W9wO9DsuxM visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
There are no busy people only people who suck at prioritization. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
As often as you can, tell people that their work matters. ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Teach the testers to program. Teach the programmers to test.

Testing is a skill, not a job title. allenholub [type:: tweet]
How to avoid copycats:

Make things no one likes. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Distance yourself from people who have a problem with every solution. ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
All the best to everyone this Holiday Season! 🎄💝 https://t.co/mek8aZYNya timecamp [type:: tweet]
A cage is a much better metaphor than a silo. Consider a testing cage (silo). You put all your testers into the cage and feed them through the bars. If food (work) piles up, it starts to rot. The people in the cage can't get out and help others or learn. allenholub [type:: tweet]
By default most founders are
😭 short term optimists (ignore bad execution) and
🥴 long term pessimists (pick small problems)

Successful founders are the opposite—
🧐 short term pessimists and (always improving)
😎 long term optimists (pick big problems)

https://t.co/CSnzt48yTo https://t.co/e3K4LUoFFC garrytan [type:: tweet]
Think story, not feature. E.g. "we need to add an email feature" tells you nothing about how actual customers want to leverage email in the app. A story that describes a customer using email to accomplish something of value does tell you that. Stories keep you focused on value. allenholub [type:: tweet]
A CEO letting past & future employees know what trends he believes in is good.
It gives them an opportunity to adapt.

I’ve seen a few Twitter users calling the quoted tweet an insult.

To me, it’s a form of respect.

1/2 DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
The image of perfection is what keeps you from seeing it. naval [type:: tweet]
The real happiness is deep equanimity.
Anicca. DhammaService [type:: tweet]
Has anyone had success with a productivity system that they’ve been able to stick with for over a year?

I love Getting Things Done / OmniFocus, but I find it’s a part time job to maintain and do weekly reviews and I always fall off the wagon. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Stop chasing other people's definitions of success, that's what makes you unhappy. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Want to enjoy life more?

Put down the remote, back slowly away from the television,

and do something where you're a participant, not an observer. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
"Everyone" should be in regular contact with customers. Preventing engineers from talking to customers is a strong antipattern. A need to explain the domain to the engineers is a huge red flag. They should already be very familiar with the domain. Stop creating silos. allenholub [type:: tweet]
What's the best movie or TV show ever made about invention?

Not just the trials and tribulations of the inventor, but which brings alive the process of invention itself. antonhowes [type:: tweet]
Move faster. Slowness anywhere justifies slowness everywhere.

2021 instead of 2022. This week instead of next week. Today instead of tomorrow.

Moving fast compounds so much more than people realize. sama [type:: tweet]
Bitcoin is an exit from the Fed.

DeFi is an exit from Wall Street.

Social media is an exit from mass media.

Homeschooling is an exit from industrial education.

Remote work is an exit from 9-5.

Creator economy is an exit from employment.

Individuals are leaving institutions. naval [type:: tweet]
@sopranoscaps @jackbutcher No Paulie? CactusZachtus [type:: tweet]
If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.

— Lao Tzu https://t.co/pME603Kxrg visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Material progress doesn’t make us happier. If it did, the ancients must have been a miserable bunch.

Instead we compete for status, an older, zero-sum game.

We don’t want things, we want to be things.*

A rational person recounts their blessings and rejects society’s games. naval [type:: tweet]
Maturity is the ability to prioritize values before feelings. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Only good use of money is to buy time.

Time to invest in knowledge, health and relationships. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
@awilkinson 35 to 40 may have been the most fun period of my life. I learned to only spend energy on people willing to give it back, to stop telling myself I’ll try that “tomorrow”, why wait? Looking back, I wish I had pushed back more at my job regarding my time. I missed too much. HBD 🥳 arizonacoug [type:: tweet]
@awilkinson At your age I started taking my physical fitness (cardio, mobility, and strength) a lot more seriously than any point prior. One of my best decisions. Wish I did it way earlier. destraynor [type:: tweet]
@awilkinson I turn 50 this year. 35 is an amazing age. Still have youthful energy but now combining it with some wisdom. I wish I’d found the edges more and lived with less fear. Oh, and fitness...don’t ever lose it. Getting it back becomes so much harder (+ more injury prone) as you age simon_ree [type:: tweet]
THREAD: 15 of the most useful razors and rules I've found.

Rules of thumb that simplify decisions. george__mack [type:: tweet]
I'm still under the dangerous delusion that I'll have time to do everything I want to do in life. EricJorgenson [type:: tweet]
-A few days of collecting & sorting laundry from different corners of my house pre-weekend 😂
-Lots of short (20min) & a few long cycles for 2 days
-Mid-station bw washing machine & dryer (to pile up clean wet clothes while the previous drying cycle is on) to break the dependency hellobasak [type:: tweet]
A backlog is not be a list of solutions or work to be done. A backlog is a list of problems that need solving. allenholub [type:: tweet]
"The more seriously you take yourself, the unhappier you’re going to be."
- @naval NavalQuotes247 [type:: tweet]
Many people think building brand = doing ads.

But building brand = doing positive actions every single day across all customer touch points that elevates affinity, trust and reputation.

And only one negative action can often wipe out all your brand equity built over years. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
The overstimulated mind competes with all. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon CEO.

Coincidence? I Don't Think So ;-) ;-) https://t.co/FvNeBVkEmQ tomik99 [type:: tweet]
If success comes, allow it.

If failure comes, allow it.

Both are not what we think they are.

Surrender comes in the form of allowing things to be as they are.

Accept and then act from that place of acceptance. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Jeff Bezos on decision making: https://t.co/BhaK6063aj shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
The 7 Lean Principles are: "Eliminate waste, amplify learning, decide as late as possible, deliver as fast as possible, empower the team, build quality in, and see the whole". How exactly is that incompatible with Agile? allenholub [type:: tweet]
Too often, "data" is used as an excuse not to have conversations.

Don't collect data. Talk to people. allenholub [type:: tweet]
When you are doing reference checks on a new hire, just ask their old boss one question:

"Were they truly great?"

If they hesitate when they answer, or don't say Yes! ... don't make the hire

A simple recommendation is often meaningless jasonlk [type:: tweet]
@elonmusk The most powerful person in business is the storyteller. —Steve Jobs https://t.co/AVcsWvVmYt ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Everything in your life is a relationship. You are in one with your money, your health, your career, your dreams. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Pyroscope is a new open source continuous profiler!
- Only takes 3 lines of code to install
- See exactly which lines of code consume CPU resources
- View profiles as large as 1 year or as granular as 10 seconds
Check out the Github repo for our demo...We'd love some feedback! PyroscopeIO [type:: tweet]
Programmers can literally just sit down at a computer and create value for people out of thin air Austen [type:: tweet]
The road to socialism via inflation:

• Print money, crash the reserve currency, destroy savers, and force them into inflated assets.

• Asset inflation leads to inequality. Demonize asset holders and tax the nominal gains, thereby confiscating the real value of the assets. naval [type:: tweet]
We underestimate the power of less. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Sharing below few organic marketing growth hacks that helped us bootstrap @saleshandy

p.s we are celebrating highest no. of weekly visitors on our website via google organic medium these days! https://t.co/g2Zj9hDBjI dhruvikigai [type:: tweet]
Structure your environment for the type of person you want to become.

If you want to eat healthy, set your kitchen up like a healthy person. If you want to be productive, set your calendar up like the most productive person you know. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
If you do that, they will reciprocate and you will have acquired a great power and joy.

If you aren’t working with people you care about and respect, your job probably isn’t the one for you. (1/2) https://t.co/nbz5XLKKPk RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Write truth, and don’t waste a word. naval [type:: tweet]
Seven dangers to human virtue:
1. Wealth without work
2. Pleasure without conscience
3. Knowledge without character
4. Business without ethics
5. Science without humanity
6. Religion without sacrifice
7. Politics without principles
—Mahatma Gandhi https://t.co/fpFLaWT1Bd ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
"Inspiration is perishable - act on it immediately."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
You will never be respected if you are scared of owning your differences and who you are. orangebook [type:: tweet]
How much would you pay to have the space in your life to say "I'm soooo bored..." as you did as a kid? tferriss [type:: tweet]
Smart people don’t care about “winning” arguments.

They value time and peace of mind. orangebook [type:: tweet]
Life gets much simpler once you give up on people who don’t respect your efforts for them. orangebook [type:: tweet]
A lot of problems happen because of your internal state.

When you’re calm, happy, and fulfilled you don’t pick fights, create drama, or keep score. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
I have seen people who agree on the major issues waste hours arguing over details. It's more important to do big things well than to do the small things perfectly. But when people disagree on the importance of debating something, it probably should be debated. #principleoftheday https://t.co/MdXAFZIlFp RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Marry a girl who looks great without makeup, smiles often for no reason, can face any problem with grace & gladly lets you have the last word. taylorburrowes [type:: tweet]
I spent my whole life looking down on normies leading a suburban lifestyle, 2.5 kids, white picket fence, doing normie things like watching TV, taking the kids to school, feeding the dog, etc.

Now I consider it the highest achievement fortelabs [type:: tweet]
In an age of permissionless leverage, judgement, not work, determines success and failure.

Good judgement is the product of a calm and curious mind, reasoning without motivation and attachment.

Whatever strengthens your ego weakens your judgement, and ultimately, your success. naval [type:: tweet]
Being effective at thoughtful disagreement requires one to be open-minded (seeing things through the other’s eyes) and assertive (communicating clearly how things look through your eyes) and to flexibly process this information to create learning and adaptation. https://t.co/wo81KGIOGT RayDalio [type:: tweet]
I've said this before, but it bears repeating:

99% of the things you worry about can be solved by getting physically stronger, making more money, and a bit of meditation. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
"Productivity" is not worth chasing. To paraphrase Taiichi Ohno: focus on eliminating waste and on continuous improvement and productivity will take care of itself.

Measuring something that's not worth measuring is the worst sort of waste. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Your three most important decisions in life:-

Your Spouse
Your Job
Where you live

-@naval adityakhattar [type:: tweet]
Take comfort: no one actually knows what the hell they're doing. Everyone is just working off their current best guess. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Worrying is an unnecessary use of energy. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
Backlinks pro tip: write content for people who can actually give you backlinks (i.e. people who blog, run websites, etc.).

Customers don't give backlinks. Content creators do.

What should you write? Authoritative, research based articles that helps them push their agenda. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
People care more about getting feedback than providing real value. It's the wrong approach.

You should know if the thing you're building is valuable. Don't wait for "validation".

If you don't know if it's valuable, I probably wouldn't build it. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
We think a lot about those black lines, forgetting that it’s all still in our hands. https://t.co/RSZ1d3W642 waitbutwhy [type:: tweet]
"Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn't matter." Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time. https://t.co/kDrzcKzEBX ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
10 things to quit right now:

1 a sense of entitlement
2 speaking poorly behind someone's back
3 constantly complaining
4 resentment
5 making excuses
6 worrying about the past
7 interrupting people
8 bragging about being busy
9 fishing for compliments
10 settling for mediocrity ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
Read @jeffiel's book "Ask Your Developer" for the second time. Such an insightful read.

Bezos inspired founders to build an organization around "customer obsession"

Jeff Lawson will have inspired an entire generation of founders to focus on "developer obsession" anuhariharan [type:: tweet]
Everyone makes mistakes. The main difference is that successful people learn from them and unsuccessful people don’t. By creating an environment in which it's okay to safely make mistakes so people can learn from them, you’ll see rapid progress and fewer significant mistakes. https://t.co/GYOrXpLK78 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Find yourself friends who challenge you when your thinking small. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
Bill Carr joined Amazon in 1999 and launched Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Studios

Colin Bryar joined Amazon in 1998 and was Chief of Staff to Jeff Bezos, AKA "Jeff's shadow"

Bill and Colin explain the secret to Amazon’s success: Working Backwards.

https://t.co/uFgg8SbHQ1 ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
1/ The business author Peter Drucker famously said, "What gets measured gets managed." What he meant is that if you want to improve something, find a way to measure it.

But there's a corollary to this: be careful what you measure, as that is what will get maximized. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
2/ Measuring what's unimportant can be just as harmful as failing to measure what's important. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Good PR rarely gets you customers directly

But ...
- your employees care
- customers will see it on Google, your blog, etc
- aids prospects doing discovery
- helps you recruit
So it is worth it.

Good PR, that is jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Improving your writing is as simple as packing more useful information into fewer words david_perell [type:: tweet]
Q: How do I become successful?

A: By consistently doing something of value for as many people as possible. Wealth and status will occur as side effects. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Tune out society and its endless and noisy demands. naval [type:: tweet]
Knowing vs. understanding. https://t.co/Y4GEOTS6Xm visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
You'll stop fearing criticism when you realize it's a gift to make you get better. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
The cold email that started a $100M / yr company

Cc: Jason Cohen https://t.co/CmRNlnQSeI GoodMarketingHQ [type:: tweet]
The best apps today are games in disguise

@calm @tiktok_us @superhuman @chime - many of the top consumer / enterprise / fintech apps embrace game design. These 'game-like' experiences feel fun and have great retention

Thread 👇 https://t.co/DUAnEDZwtn Tocelot [type:: tweet]
SEO used to be about tactics.

Now it’s about providing value. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
A simple question that often changes my behavior:

Does the amount of attention I’m giving this match its importance? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Seek after happiness, you will be miserable.

Become still and unmoved by that which comes and goes, you will know peace. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Stop learning by consuming, start learning by creating.

Stop learning by researching, start learning by doing.

Stop learning by listening, start learning by talking.

Stop learning by reading, start learning by writing. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Don’t confuse curiosity to try your product with demand for it. Suhail [type:: tweet]
Study your competitors.

Not to copy them. Not to learn what features they have. Not to think like them.

Study your competitors to learn what customers think about them.

Understanding your competitors from the perspective of customers helps you find untapped opportunities. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Being busy isn't the same thing as adding value. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Replay the story of where you have been (or what you have done) that led up to where you are now, and then visualize what you and others must do in the future so you will reach your goals. https://t.co/K93Q0nMc8L RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Every great product gets built by a team, but rarely by a committee. eriktorenberg [type:: tweet]
I’ve systematized my study of bubbles over time into a “bubble indicator” based on six influences, which are combined into gauges. We do this for each stock that we are looking at https://t.co/af5e4DwYLH RayDalio [type:: tweet]
“I don’t have time” is a lie.

Often a well-intentioned one, but whatever.

The accurate statement is: “It’s not a priority.”

The things you think you don’t have time to do are the things you have deprioritized. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
As Carl Jung put it, "Man needs difficulties. They are necessary for health." Yet most people instinctually avoid pain. (1/2) https://t.co/tnojWiWQ3y RayDalio [type:: tweet]
They made it look trustworthy.

Every other Bitcoin wallet/exchange looked like a random sketchy crypto project run by hackers.

They made Coinbase look like a bank, in comparison, and prioritized good design (with @metalab 💘).

Bitclout should follow suit. DM me! awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Different minds look at problems from different perspectives. What may seem unremarkable to one person, can spark a revelation in another brain that is wired just a little differently.

Collaborate with other creative people. Your perspective can make a difference. https://t.co/gwWf9ikH1o Brainstorming03 [type:: tweet]
The point at work isn’t doing every task at 80% but understanding which tasks can be done at 50% and which need to be done at 100%.

Performance isn’t doing everything equally well. Performance is going all in on the things that make a difference. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
This is a story about how I lost $10,000,000 by doing something stupid.

Ten. Million. Dollars.

Literally up in smoke. Money bonfire.

That’s enough to retire with $250,000+ in annual income.

Here’s what happened… awilkinson [type:: tweet]
He walked me through who was backing them, how much cash they had, how they had hired top executives from huge companies, and that it was only a matter of time until they beat us on product and outspend us on marketing. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Our growth started slowing.

20% monthly growth dropped to 5%.

Customers weren’t getting the features they wanted.

Our clients were unreliable and had syncing issues.

Our team felt frustrated and under resourced and we churned through staff. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Setting boundaries isn’t a way to get rid of people.

It’s a way to keep them in your life without destroying your inner peace. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Products that are used daily mostly are in business of reducing stress.

Stress inducing products can never become DAU. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Living well does not mean avoiding suffering; it means suffering for the right reasons. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
How do you manage a big, long, complicated project? By making it small, short, little projects. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Focusing on fundamentals and taking them seriously will put you in the top 10% of any pursuit without needing to try anything fancy. jaltma [type:: tweet]
There are no "positive" or "negative" emotions, there are just "comfortable" and "uncomfortable" emotions. The value of the emotion depends on your subjective judgment of the emotional experience and how you integrate it into the rest of your being. sbkaufman [type:: tweet]
"Czy twój pomysł sprawi, że ludziom będzie żyło się lepiej?" Według @richardbranson każdy przedsiębiorca powinien zadać sobie to pytanie, zanim zacznie działać https://t.co/vn1ZvyC2pn BIPolska [type:: tweet]
"Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
When your retention is rock solid, adding small chunks of users has a huge impact on your metrics.

When it’s not, you need a lot of volume to move the needle. Suhail [type:: tweet]
How many products can you say-
"X changed my life."

What are products that have done this for you? (Obscure ones for extra credit, please) andrewchen [type:: tweet]
The most predictive part of a startup's investor update email is the ratio of numbers to letters. sama [type:: tweet]
And more generally, whether they talk about progress towards technical/product/user/revenue goals, or any other kind of goals (hiring and raising money in particular).

You make what you measure. sama [type:: tweet]
Parenting trick: When your kids reach the sullen teen stage where they don't want to talk to you, drive them places. In the car they forget they're having a conversation. It helps that you're both looking forward instead of at each other. paulg [type:: tweet]
Polski TimeCamp na Product Hunt⏱️ https://t.co/m5I1FhHQtu via @kusoomegane sadek [type:: tweet]
Boasting about working 12-hour days isn’t a sign of productivity; it’s a sign of poor boundaries. SteveOnSpeed [type:: tweet]
Something I taught my 12 yo: Most people underestimate how much the world can change, and practically no one can predict where the change will happen. The only thing you can predict for sure is that some very surprising things will happen. paulg [type:: tweet]
One of the stories we used to tell in the early days of Facebook was how a small, two-engineer project came to dominate the entire photo sharing landscape in the late 2000s.

Thread 👇 1/10 joulee [type:: tweet]
How to create a better future? Ask yourself these two questions:

― What am I not doing now that one day I’ll wish I had started earlier?

― What am I doing now that one day I’ll wish I had done less of? Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
If you're internally at peace, you won't be angered by reality. https://t.co/lGjf1EYK3n TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Everywhere they go people are carrying their judgements. Release your judgments and find peace. justinkan [type:: tweet]
What do Salesforce, UiPath and Slack all have in common?

Most of their new bookings come from >existing< customers

"As You Scale, Most Of Your New Revenue May Well Come from Existing Customers"

https://t.co/PtfaMQoNGn jasonlk [type:: tweet]
A surprisingly effective way to get what you want is to not settle for less than what you want.

It doesn't always work—you can't force the world to be a certain way—and you may need healthy doses of patience and doggedness, but your life bends toward what you accept. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
THREAD: The top 0.1% of ideas I’ve stumbled upon on the internet.

The rabbit holes (without the distractions). george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. Shaan Clubs
• Cliche trope: "You're the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with"

• @ShaanVP takes this simple cliche and actually implements it - by creating clubs of similar people.

• He wanted to learn poker, so lived in a house of people learning poker george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. Calendar-Priority Alignment
• When @rabois meets with a new CEO, he asks to see:
1. Their priorities
2. Their calendar
• They rarely ever match.

• So simple. So obvious. Rarely ever done. I felt stupid after hearing it. george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. Write Before Action
• @Conaw writes down what he plans to do, and how he plans to do it (in detail) before he does it

• "Why? Because sometimes I realize as I am halfway through writing things out that there is a fundamentally better approach."

• So simple. Rarely done george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. The Hotel Bathroom Principle
• "When you want to cultivate serendipity, stick to the 'Hotel Bathroom' dress code.

Always dress well enough to walk into any a bathroom at a hotel you're not staying at and get away with it." - @david_perell https://t.co/NbZESN6dAc george__mack [type:: tweet]
• The internet is kinda like college. Educational but full of distractions.

• Customisable algorithms of the future should optimise for the individual's goals - rather than the goals of the platform.

• Until then, we’re all swimming in sewage trying to find nuggets of gold. george__mack [type:: tweet]
I wave goodbye at the end of every zoom meeting and I will not be stopped eade_bengard [type:: tweet]
Stop being shy. No one gives a fuck about you.

You think you look awkward. No one else thinks about you at all.

You are not in high school where everyone notices every time you speak. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
Best life hack I’ve done recently: got a productivity coach.
- a coach helps you lay out my work goals for the month
- he sends daily text messages to help me stay on track
- $150/month
It’s like a personal trainer, for work. I rarely have unproductive days now

434-505-4769 ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
You age when your excitement for trying new things drops. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
@Codie_Sanchez None of the decisions were wrong when you took them, it's all in the hindsight that you find them so.

Me, you and anybody for that fact is a sum total of good / bad decisions we took at every point of life. If you are happy and satisfied today, then everyone of those were fine. TheMaverickOut1 [type:: tweet]
If you want to think about something, write it out. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Clear thinkers take feedback from reality, not society. naval [type:: tweet]
Jeff Bezos has a saying: “Good intentions don’t work. Mechanisms do.”

Long-term, you can’t solve problems by working more or trying harder. If you want persistent change, you have to fix the underlying system. david_perell [type:: tweet]
You will never be criticized by people doing more than you.

You will only be criticized by people doing less.

Hate always comes from beneath. Rich_Cooper [type:: tweet]
What most people don't understand is that passion is the result of action, not the cause of it. You want to find your passion in life? Work for it. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
2/ Clarifying your plans: the first thing I did was write down a 7-page Elon Musk-style master plan. Write down what problem you plan to solve, how you'll solve it, and why it's important. Then have your smart friends critique it. Let no valid question go unanswered. Suhail [type:: tweet]
3/ End every conversation with an expert about your industry with: "Why do you think I am going to fail?" to lean into brutally understanding what you need to de-risk. Suhail [type:: tweet]
4/ Think of a way to make your users have some skin in the game enough to yell at you to make your product better. Charge or trade for it early on. Waiting for your product to be "good enough" reduces the amount you'll learn each day. The first set of users paid me $20 on Venmo! Suhail [type:: tweet]
7/ Learning from users is a practiced skill just like programming. If you don't have experience, make a plan. Start with simple questions, then go deep.

Here was mine going into early customer interviews: https://t.co/2yJU8hmeFj Suhail [type:: tweet]
18/ The first goal I set for our company was narrow: make 10 happy users use our product. A happy user uses it, pays for it, and organically praises it. Focusing on a few wonderfully happy users is a better recipe for great retention. Then go from 10 → 100 → 1K → 10K → 100K. Suhail [type:: tweet]
After 10 years of living in Silicon Valley / SF, it became clear that the #1 way to become successful is to be surrounded by 1) others who have done it before and 2) ambitious peers.

The environment shapes you towards the right actions and provides resources/network.

1/x zachtratar [type:: tweet]
How did MongoDB get to $700,000,000+ ARR?

One trick was to stop pushing annual contracts!

More here:

https://t.co/38U7RfWo4k jasonlk [type:: tweet]
There are really only four types of value propositions companies can have:
- Best quality (Louisville Slugger, Stradivarius)
- Best bang for buck (Ikea, Chipotle, Toyota)
- Luxury & aspiration (BMW, Rolex)
- Must-have (Stripe, Westlaw)
Which is best for your company? Why? nathanbarry [type:: tweet]
In an age of abundance, self-control is a superpower. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
You can only lose what you cling to.

~ Buddha TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
A sign of intelligence:

You don’t constantly jump on any opportunity to react and act offended. orangebook [type:: tweet]
The clarity of your thoughts is the quality of your life. orangebook [type:: tweet]
Some Stoic keys to happiness:
- Focus on what you can control
- Reduce your wants
- Read philosophy every day
- Ignore the inessential
- Don't compare yourself to others
- Live as if you've died and come back to life (bonus time)
- Do good to feel good dailystoic [type:: tweet]
As a child, I thought that accumulation of knowledge was important.

As I grow older, I realize that its distillation through action matters more.

Theory that doesn't translate to action doesn't matter. Also, only action can determine whether knowledge is real or bullshit. DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
SaaSworthy ranks Timecamp as the Highly Rated Software in Time Tracking.

https://t.co/cjQU06iw3W

Well done team @timecamp!

#saasworthy #timecamp #awards #timetracking #saas https://t.co/EHipXdHFuq saasworthy [type:: tweet]
Do not avoid your problems. Embrace them. For problems are what life is made of. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
"Misfortune is virtue's opportunity." Seneca dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Top 10 factors for success > $1m ARR:
1. Great CTO
2. CEO great at recruiting
3. CEO great at recruiting
4. CEO great at recruiting
5. CEO great at recruiting
6. CEO great at recruiting
7. CEO great at recruiting
8. CEO great at recruiting
9. CEO great at recruiting
10. CEO grea jasonlk [type:: tweet]
It’s a lot easier to AVOID things that make you miserable than to predict what will make you happy.

There’s an incredible @Harvard Study from 1938 that sheds light on just how to avoid a miserable life.

In 2013, reading it caused me to quit drinking and changed my life... awilkinson [type:: tweet]
George Vaillant, the director of the study, wrote an incredible book summarizing the results called The Triumphs of Experience.

https://t.co/YRvNyxXv5l awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Anything is productive if you just put it on your to do list fortelabs [type:: tweet]
Something I told 9 yo: If you're a maker, resist being told what to do by people who aren't. paulg [type:: tweet]
3 things that always boost my mood:
1. Sun
2. Sweat
3. Solitude mkobach [type:: tweet]
Curious how a company with a $2+ trillion market-cap writes persuasive copy?

Here are 13 ways Apple persuades readers with its copywriting 🧵 alexgarcia_atx [type:: tweet]
Observe people as they try to use your product. This is never a waste of time. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Knowing what to avoid is a superpower. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Be stubborn on destinations, flexible on tactics, and relentless on progress. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
If you are doing your job as CEO, you already have 1 or 2 investors that want to invest in the next round

No matter when that round is jasonlk [type:: tweet]
My regrets in life can basically all be summed in this:

I just wish I knew then what I knnow now

Get one great mentor
Get one great advisor
Get one person to tell you

Could be worth millions. Maybe even billions jasonlk [type:: tweet]
The Worry Filter

With any worry, ask yourself:

Is it really important? Does it matter? No, then stop.

Is it really likely? Is there a good chance? No, then stop.

Can I do anything about it? No, then stop.

If “Yes” to all three, then DO something. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Complexity happens by default.
Simplicity happens by design. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Every man is at war with himself, except a Buddha. naval [type:: tweet]
4 Harsh Truths About Life
1. The less you force relationships, the stronger they are.
2. You’re not supposed to accomplish all your goals.
3. No one actually knows what the hell they’re doing.
4. The world doesn’t give a shit about you unless you give it a reason to. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Elimination of distractions is always more productive than working more or harder. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
If you want to be persuasive…

• Feelings > Facts
• Images > Words
• Metaphors > Logic
• Stories > Arguments
• Examples > Features
• Inspiration > Information
• Personality > Credentials
• Collaboration > Competition

What else? ndwignall [type:: tweet]
Secret to happiness:

If you get no choice, be indifferent to the outcome. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Of what use is self-improvement when any little disturbance can crack your peace of mind? zen_fi [type:: tweet]
$500 online course? Can’t afford!
$500 phone upgrade? Can’t resist!

$20 productivity app? Too pricey!
$20 cocktail? Too easy!

Daily exercise: No time!
Daily Netflix: No prob!

Invest in your brain, your body, and your community. Not much else matters at the end of the day. stephsmithio [type:: tweet]
If you don’t work on your happiness, don’t complain about being unhappy. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Problems happen when intellectualism replaces action. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Właśnie dostaliśmy potwierdzenie, że w najbliższy wtorek (11 Maja) @Brand24 zadebiutuje na głównym parkiecie warszawskiej Giełdy 💪🔥 sadek [type:: tweet]
Most people are either good at thinking with a 10 year time horizon or operating with the urgency of a 10 day time horizon.

Extremely powerful if you can do both! sama [type:: tweet]
"You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple."

— Steve Jobs shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
The best support is no support:

‧ update knowledge base every time 2 users ask the same thing
‧ detect issues on your end and automatically email the solution to users
‧ use the same word for the same thing in your doc + product
‧ make things predictable + easy to roll-back PierreDeWulf [type:: tweet]
You can seek comfort or you can seek achievement but not both. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
You will never regret time spent:
- In nature
- With family
- Meditating
- Off your phone
- Improving yourself TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Greed will kill your portfolio. Do not use excessive leverage, speculate, or take a flyer. This is not investing; it is gambling. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
I've hired over 1,000 people in my career.

I've let go family members and folks who stood up at my wedding.

From part time laborers to executives who help me raise capital for large real estate deals to full time folks in the Philippines.

Here's 10 things I've learned 👇 sweatystartup [type:: tweet]
"Remember that all is opinion." - Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Who has done a great job optimizing 'powered by' traffic? It's one of our larger channels (60k visits/mo), but as expected converts to free users far lower (2%) than our average (5.3%) and best channels (7%).

What have you seen work? nathanbarry [type:: tweet]
To believe that you can end decades of tyranny of the ego by reading lots of books is like believing that you can satisfy your appetite by reading lots of menus. zen_fi [type:: tweet]
Time management should be called priority managment. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
Having open-minded conversations with believable people who disagree with you is the quickest way to get an education and to increase your probability of being right. #principleoftheday https://t.co/MxAeDJclCF RayDalio [type:: tweet]
"Whatever can happen at any time can happen today." - Seneca dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Comparison steals your happiness. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Let's say 1% of decision makers would support a particular risky project.

If you form a random three person committee and all members need to agree the project's chances just went from 1% to 1 in a million.

Committees kill variance. MatjazLeonardis [type:: tweet]
"Clear Thinker" is a better compliment than "Smart."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Never idolize anyone.

Everyone is human.

Everyone is flawed.

You will end up disappointed. orangebook [type:: tweet]
Emotions are a means to an end. They give life a sense of meaning and our actions a sense of purpose. But they are not the purpose themselves. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Linear Growth: Create value by using resources in your company.

Non-Linear Growth: Create value by by connecting resources in your ecosystem. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Instead of trying to be right, try to be less wrong than you were before. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
"If you want to make the wrong decision, ask everyone."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The single reason why people get hired to work at a company is because employees generate more revenue than what they get paid. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
You don't need to predict how everything will play out. Just master the next step and continue moving in the right direction. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
No one is going to be happy being with you if you can’t be happy with yourself. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
You can never improve anything by adding bureaucracy. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Najnowsze wyniki Brand24 🤘🔥 Dalsze wzrosty. W Marcu najwyższa sprzedaż zagraniczna w historii Spółki (wyłączając promocje Black Friday). Najlepszy churn zagraniczny w prawie 10-letniej historii. Dowiezione na znacznie niższym niż 2 lata temu koszcie per sprzedaż. Brawo Załoga! https://t.co/JwFDUeE05Z sadek [type:: tweet]
User stories are discovered, not invented or "written." Have a conversation with your customer/users about their work—what they do and why they do it. Take notes on a card. That’s your story.

A PO sitting alone at a desk "writing stories" is dysfunction, plain and simple. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Clock speeds run differently in government agencies compared to companies and in companies compared to startups. Decide which clock you're using. sgblank [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/6C3YjfNrtw kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
"A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them." muratpak [type:: tweet]
Ok, ok. Back to building product till the end of the year.

🧐🔧🚢🚀 Suhail [type:: tweet]
People who push through successfully have to-do lists that are reasonably prioritized, and they make certain each item is ticked oﬀ in order. https://t.co/qx4CrdUcX1 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
@patrick_oshag Good follow up read to Positioning https://t.co/RDJ9F86Cvc TrevorHLynn [type:: tweet]
I second this.

I first read it almost 20 years ago and there is rarely a working day where the basic ideas don’t explicitly come into the conversation.

7+ years since launching Slack, positioning is still our biggest challenge. stewart [type:: tweet]
21/
LNO Effectiveness Framework

This framework improved the quality of my life as a PM & my work more than anything else I've encountered.

The main insight is that all your tasks are not created equal. There are 3 types of PM tasks:
1. Leverage
2. Neutral
3. Overhead https://t.co/7G2h5tI6GJ shreyas [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/EorRoEgaCr dinosaurcouch [type:: tweet]
The topography of #Poland https://t.co/NiWKkrAz9j https://t.co/AG0EuA7Avn https://t.co/Q6IzIkc3Jc TheBigDataStats [type:: tweet]
One of the most legendary marketers of all time: David Ogilvy

In 1982, David wrote an internal memo to the employees of his advertising agency titled "How to write."

And in just 10 bullets he put together a masterclass in effective writing.

Here's a breakdown of each one: https://t.co/MxRYuQRLyA dickiebush [type:: tweet]
You lead by being willing to walk alone. naval [type:: tweet]
Today, our 10th most engaged user spent 5.2 hours and our 1st did over 10 hours in the product. Exactly a year ago we were lucky if we got anyone to last over 30 min.

Just keep listening & shipping 🚢 Suhail [type:: tweet]
Not everyone will root for you.

Not everyone will like you.

Not everyone will be happy to see you rise.

Accept this, for it is reality. forgeofman [type:: tweet]
How industries have changed in the last ~100 years 👇🏼

The last image will blow your mind 🤯 anafabrega11 [type:: tweet]
Don’t worry about competition. Worry about getting so good that competition doesn’t matter. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
Agile teams are strategic, not just tactical. They make product decisions. Lots of them. They talk directly to customers to do that. A Product group that thinks it’s ok to push work onto teams is broken. It’s active dysfunction if they whine "the devs don’t do what they’re told!" allenholub [type:: tweet]
The key to doing a better work is not working more hours, but being focused while working. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
"Founder-mentality means not caring who gets the credit."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Waiting for the right time is seductive.

Our mind tricks us into thinking doing something now is hard but if we wait it will get easier.

Most of the time, waiting only makes things harder.

The right time is now. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
If a sales rep closed a deal,

A customer success manager should take it over

Find a way to fund both, even with SMBs jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"If you cannot decide, the answer is No."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Relativity. https://t.co/q4U4y6oqz4 visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Zeno's Productivity:

The final 10% of a project takes as much time as the first 90%, so you should always avoid doing the final 10% and instead send it out for feedback at the 90% mark

With every iteration, the final 10% gets smaller, until it effectively vanishes fortelabs [type:: tweet]
"Whatever anyone does or says, for my part I'm bound to the good." - Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
The best time to be happy is now. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Whenever you feel superior or inferior to anyone, that's the ego in you.

-- Eckhart Tolle awareness_being [type:: tweet]
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

~ Cicero TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
All your relationships improve once you are no longer scared of being disliked. orangebook [type:: tweet]
· Overthinking? Walk
· Exhausted? Sleep
· Doubtful? Write
· Excited? Build
· Bored? Read
· Sad? Lift wisdom_theory [type:: tweet]
Smart phones removed boredom at the cost of peace of mind. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Every unnecessary desire is a micro- prison. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
If you can
- Tell people you have a product that solves their problem
- On the channels, they frequently visit
- And tell them a story about why your solution matters
You have a killer marketing plan searchbrat [type:: tweet]
It boggles my mind how many founders just don't send any kind of investor updates at all.

Investor updates hone your focus and keep you honest. They're as much for you as they are for your investors. maccaw [type:: tweet]
“Being customer centric company means prioritizing customers and listening to them” — @jeffiel 🧑🏽‍💻

#twilio #startup #software https://t.co/mLHEh5ajQB jericolumanlan [type:: tweet]
To grow a product-led business

Remove friction
&
Increase desire

Obsess over those 2 things. searchbrat [type:: tweet]
A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control.

@naval TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Your job as an entrepreneur is to become like Teflon for tasks.

You should be ALLERGIC to doing stuff and everything should roll off you and be delegated and systematized.

Your job isn’t doing, it’s building systems. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Unhappiness is the deficit between said and done. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
History has proven that having everything won't make you happy. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
In 3 generations you will be forgotten.

Live a happy, peaceful life. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
"Networking is overrated, building is underrated. For 6 months, I sad yes to all coffee chats. The outcome? Nothing.

Last 12 months said no to everything. Built a world-class product. The people I would have wanted to, but could not network with are now reaching out directly." GergelyOrosz [type:: tweet]
Focus

How many things did you say No to?

Johny Ive on Steve Job

https://t.co/28hxTSzEao milindkhandekar [type:: tweet]
@waitbutwhy https://t.co/iJs5UcgEGi ap3co [type:: tweet]
Productivity isn't measured in hours, it's measured in impact. Sometimes the smallest actions or ideas can have the greatest impact.

It's easy to optimize our days to put in the greatest amount of hours of work. But working 100 hours a week is wasted if it has no impact. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Most kids can start a project.

Far fewer can follow it through to the end.

Finishing is a skill in itself. anafabrega11 [type:: tweet]
Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones. [Seneca] TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Your business will scale relative to your ability to simplify. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
One of the best write-ups on Meditation by @naval, wrapped up in 1 Page ↓ https://t.co/8Gg49TjfZX KetPar [type:: tweet]
This sounds totally stupid but it's true — it turns out that visualising your intended outcome makes winning more believable, and prevents your brain from sabotaging itself.

(Note this isn't some materialising your destiny bullshit, but more 'defence against self-sabotage') ejames_c [type:: tweet]
When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love. [Marcus Aurelius] TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Marketing is about the art of persistence.

Find the channels that will generate the best returns for your brand.

Grind out getting a little better on that channel week over week, month over month, year over year. searchbrat [type:: tweet]
There are limited ways to acquire customers for your product.

In my experience, it's pretty much this acquisition stack, with virality giving the best opportunity for growth, and building into ecosystems the smallest. https://t.co/HdztyiCo6U searchbrat [type:: tweet]
Novice writers try to sound smart, professional writers try to write clearly, and masters try to communicate emotions that stir the reader's soul david_perell [type:: tweet]
Being obsessed with something won’t ensure mastery but not being obsessed will ensure you won’t master it. farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
Today’s luxuries are tomorrow’s commodities. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Some Stoic keys to happiness:
- Focus on what you can control
- Reduce your wants
- Read philosophy every day
- Ignore the inessential
- Don't compare yourself to others
- Live as if you've died and come back to life (bonus time)
- Do good to feel good dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Outcome -> Metric -> Solutions

Is the best sequence for work.

So easy to fall into the habit of

Solution -> Metric -> Outcome searchbrat [type:: tweet]
Fall seven times and stand up eight. ~ Japanese Proverb TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
A happy life is not a life without struggle, it's a life with meaningful struggle. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Complexity impresses your peers.
Clarity impresses your customers. jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
"The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts." — Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
I've met a lot of struggling entrepreneurs that are more interested in the ship they are building than where the wind is blowing. rajivkhaneja [type:: tweet]
It’s all coming down to who can hire. nivi [type:: tweet]
What makes America beautiful is its culture of change.

We know we aren’t there yet, but our willingness to tweak our system & collaborate among diverse groups creates more justice, freedom, and progress daily.

There is no righteous alternative in monoculture or totalitarianism. zachtratar [type:: tweet]
Stakeholders are not customers.

Pleasing the stakeholders at the expense of the customers is politically expedient, but rarely works out well for the company. allenholub [type:: tweet]
Some deep part of me believes that people are only confident when they're very likely to be right, and I defer to confidence because my own bar for speaking confidently is pretty damn high.
but no, turns out, ppl say confident things with a low accuracy bar all the time! Aella_Girl [type:: tweet]
"All self-help boils down to "choose long-term over short-term."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Complexity is often poor thinking in disguise. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
"The past is entirely contained in your head. It is nowhere else. The present is all that exists and that is where YOU exist."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
What if your life was a sacred responsibility?

The body, a temple.

Every motive, pure.

Every glance, compassionate.

Every word, true.

Every act, right.

Every moment, holy. naval [type:: tweet]
What 99% of you didn't do enough of this week:

--> Hiring & Recruiting

How will you do better next week? jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Correlation or causation? 🤔 https://t.co/pZN2xmhccp DivineOps [type:: tweet]
Don’t do things that you know are morally wrong.

Not because someone is watching, but because you are.

Self-esteem is just the reputation that you have with yourself. — @naval OutliersThought [type:: tweet]
If you want to make the wrong decision, ask everyone.

—@Naval Navalbot001 [type:: tweet]
This is my favourite @naval quote.

What's your fav? https://t.co/us4D5BWnWG bitcoinMyName [type:: tweet]
Good luck finds those who work hard and make bold choices. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
Remind yourself: Each day, I will hear the truth without taking offense. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Tolerating a problem has the same consequences as failing to identify it. https://t.co/PGWVu6DNvv RayDalio [type:: tweet]
"Don't be overheard complaining... not even to yourself." — Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present. [Lao Tzu] TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
UI/UX Tip 💡

Your buttons should have a visual cue that a click was successful.

Otherwise, users might now be sure whether it's clicked or not and try to click many times. vponamariov [type:: tweet]
Four truth-bombs:
1. If you can't say "no," then your "yeses" are meaningless
2. They will respect you as much as you respect yourself
3. Hard work is only useful if you've found an area where you have an advantage
4. Enjoy stillness and you'll never be bored a day in your life IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
@ShaneAParrish We taught our kids about life choices as narrow & wide doors: If you choose narrow doors (harder to squeeze through) earlier in life, the doors get wider later in life. But if you choose easier, wide doors initially, the doors (choices) become narrower later in life. munrorichardson [type:: tweet]
@ShaneAParrish Edward Banfield did a decade-long study at Harvard in the 70s that found those with 'long time perspective' (taking the future into account in all present-moment decisions) were most likely to move up economically.

The ability to delay gratification is #1 predictor of success. cole__carroll [type:: tweet]
"If you don’t care to be liked, they can’t touch you."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you find yourself competing to win the love of of investors remember that you build your company to service your customers and the world. Investors are simple service providers who help you with capital along the way. mwseibel [type:: tweet]
Too many successful founders are celebrated for their intelligence. Not enough are celebrated for their discipline, focus, understanding of when to copy and when to innovate, and ability to ignore what is not vitally important. These last 4 are trainable. mwseibel [type:: tweet]
@mwseibel Customers feedback loop is underrated.

The easiest way to drive value in the marketplace is by talking to your customer.

Listen to their problems, build the solution, hand it over, listen to feedback.

Rinse and repeat. FonziCreates [type:: tweet]
"Free education is abundant, all over the internet. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Soon you will be forgotten.

Be happy and calm. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Customer acquisition is the hardest part of marketing.

People who do it will are like gold dust.
- They clearly define an opportunity.
- Can size up that opportunity.
- Can prioritize playbooks to realize that opportunity.
- Can execute those playbooks.
They're Game Changers! searchbrat [type:: tweet]
@businessbarista Grindez is a freelancing platform where individuals, freelancers, and enterprises connect to conduct business.
Accumulate Cryptocurrency despite bull or bear markets.
Have #freelance skills to offer? @TheGrindez will let you work for any Cryptocurrency
https://t.co/UAP8PVz5Bt nichxbt [type:: tweet]
"Money doesn’t buy happiness - it buys freedom."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
I always felt intimidated by friends who could draw well. I got stuck at simple stick figures...

The idea of developing my visual vocabulary has been a game-changer for me. https://t.co/19YpeWvsVF zsviczian [type:: tweet]
Lack of courage sabotages more people than lack of ability. Don't beat yourself before you start. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Press releases are a big part of Amazon's success. Each executive has to write one before launching a new project.

They include:
1. Written in the future, when the project is successful
2. Focuses on how it improved the customer experience
3. Lists measurable results searchbrat [type:: tweet]
Judge the quality of your neighborhood by how many walks you take. nivi [type:: tweet]
Society wants you to follow a linear curve.

To experience nonlinearity, you have to escape the comfort of a normal life. Route2FI [type:: tweet]
Intelligent people can accept the truth without taking offense. Dumb people neglect the truth AND take offense. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Part 2 of my experiment sketchnoting a book.

I just updated yesterday's book summary for Storyworthy with the second part: Crafting Your Story.

👉👉👉https://t.co/qjL75kHBYq https://t.co/vVPCB9wggQ zsviczian [type:: tweet]
“Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more.” Seneca RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
A peaceful mind free of desire, judgement and anxiety is the highest calling. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
If you see 20% or more of your new customers coming from word-of-mouth by $2m-$3m ARR,

Things are going really well jasonlk [type:: tweet]
“While I’ve met many engineers who don’t want to do discovery, I’ve rarely met an engineer who didn’t have an opinion about what the team should be building.”

Core Concept: Getting Engineers to Embrace the Product Trio | Product Talk https://t.co/W1cWZKDzWB jboogie [type:: tweet]
Being fully present in the moment is an essential key to charm and charisma. PUA_DATING_TIPS [type:: tweet]
“Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn't matter."
–Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
@naval We get good at whatever it is that we do everyday.

Complaining, judging, whining included. warikoo [type:: tweet]
You don't need more time, you need more focus.

Fewer projects. Fewer commitments. Fewer obligations. Fewer responsibilities.

Carefully choose what you commit to, then go all in. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Companies should rethink vacation.

At times you need to fully unplug. Other times, you just need a change of pace.

What if there was X weeks allocated to be:
- Meeting-free
- Half days
- For creative projects
- For clearing backlog
How else could we rethink "time off"? stephsmithio [type:: tweet]
You cannot convince someone when their ego is dependent on not being convinced by you. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
6 Healthy Relationship Habits People Think Are Toxic
1. Letting conflicts go unresolved
2. Being willing to hurt each other's feelings
3. Being willing to end it
4. Feeling attraction for people outside the relationship
5. Spending time apart
6. Accepting your partner's flaws IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Intelligence without courage won’t take you far. Sometimes, it’s smarter to think less and act more. orangebook [type:: tweet]
My brother in law is a social worker working with neglected kids and just told me: "All behavior makes sense with enough information."

People do crazy things because it makes sense to them even if it doesn't make sense to us.

Applies to lots of things. morganhousel [type:: tweet]
Fix: Write impossible headers, realistic sub-headers

Headers: Bold claims that make visitors think "how's that possible?"

Sub-headers: Explains how the header is possible using non-technical language

Ex. @GoldcastEvents & @bokksu https://t.co/s8UZqxgQh9 GrowthTactics [type:: tweet]
The best marketing textbook is your bank statement:

• Study companies you’ve given money and ask why.

Reality >>> Theory george__mack [type:: tweet]
Waterstones is offering signed copies of Rationality (I have the sore wrist to prove it) for preorder. https://t.co/CkSGWGWwP5 https://t.co/EURZu0xvYI sapinker [type:: tweet]
"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants." –Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Mental resiliency is becoming as important as literally any other skill TrevMcKendrick [type:: tweet]
You gain nothing by being negative. Shift your mindset, start winning. PerfectGuide_ [type:: tweet]
I'm a fan of tools that help you do things that you should be doing -- but don't, because it's too annoying.

In this case, it's creating highlight reels of past talks.

It's also why I'm a #happyinvestor in Milk Video. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
If you have to sell hard to convince someone to buy then it’s probably not a good fit and won’t work out long term.

I have found this to be true when selling a product, hiring someone or raising money.

This mindset also makes the “nos” less personal/stressful. immad [type:: tweet]
I can almost guarantee you're overthinking it jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
"The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Your job is not to follow your board's advice

Your job is to be respectful of the advice given, consider it, and make sure you get plenty more advice, too

Then it's up to you

Never, ever forget that jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"The fundamental delusion - there is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"Devote the rest of your life to making progress." –Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
my ideal date: code on replit together codingyuri [type:: tweet]
"Our life is what our thoughts make it." –Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
UI/UX Tip 💡

Don't just put a screenshot of your app.
- Make few screenshots that demonstrate different features
- Remove clutter from them. Hints, copyright, some random garbage
➡️ Make users focus on ONE feature per time and show it with good quality media https://t.co/4D4BurMENk vponamariov [type:: tweet]
What a line! 🤯

Forget “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.”

Alfred Sloan, the CEO of General Motors says instead “you don’t need to manage what you can measure.” https://t.co/mr6fRLG6VM Molson_Hart [type:: tweet]
Lesson #2: You can’t do it alone, no matter how great you are.

To win big, surround yourself with:

A. Other greats
B. Role players
C. A system that brings out the best in everyone.

All three of these are equally important and allow organizations to thrive. RomeenSheth [type:: tweet]
Lesson #10: Your startup is a movement. Treat it like one.

There’s an analogue between grassroots politics and startup evangelism.

The best “campaigns”:
- Define a larger cause
- Articulate the problem better than anyone else
- Attack the status quo
- Define the category RomeenSheth [type:: tweet]
That's the list!

10 timely lessons to help orient founders and investors on the road to building generational companies.

He also shared his perspectives on:
- Intensity and mindset
- Driving virality
- Blitzfailing / Blitzscaling
Check out the full episode in the bio. RomeenSheth [type:: tweet]
Product-led growth
- Make it easy to get started with your product
- Make inviting others to use your product easy
- Make it easy to discover your products core value
- Make sharing that value with others easy
- Make buying easy
- Make buying more easy
- Make getting help easy searchbrat [type:: tweet]
"I begin to speak only when I'm certain what I'll say isn't better left unsaid." –Cato dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Microsoft was 20 years old when Windows 95 shipped.

Intel was 25 years old when Pentium came out.

Apple was 31 years old when iPhone launched.

All were still run by their founders.

There’s SO much innovation still to come from today’s 10-15 year old, founder-run companies. dadiomov [type:: tweet]
...and when you're on a good wave, you've got to ride it until it becomes less good. You need to constantly evaluate the value of the path you're on versus the potential that could come out of exploring–and ride the biggest wave you can find. (2/2) RayDalio [type:: tweet]
When you avoid failure, you also opt-out of greatness. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Urgency cuts what’s unnecessary. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
@JulianaLung If germs won’t eat it, it’s not food. naval [type:: tweet]
It’s very rare to hear someone say, “I understand” and you believe them. taylorburrowes [type:: tweet]
“Happiness is simply the absence of desire…It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state.”

–@JamesClear fortelabs [type:: tweet]
One of the best memes I've seen recently. https://t.co/ifUZP5yYzN bolchowka [type:: tweet]
People have a hard time wrapping their minds around niching down. They think they're eliminating potential customers.

The opposite is true. You're creating fans that would otherwise be apathetic. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
How to win every time:
1. Create something valuable for a growing market.
2. Produce content aimed at educating complete beginners in the market.
3. Position your product/service as a solution to some inefficiency within the market.
No need to take on incumbents. jdnoc [type:: tweet]
Great leaders give their teams problems to solve, not a checklist of tasks to complete searchbrat [type:: tweet]
"You have to assemble your life yourself, action by action." Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Nothing external will make you internally happy forever. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Three Important Life Skills (Nobody Ever Taught Us):
1. How to stop taking things personally
2. How to be persuaded to change your mind
3. How to act without knowing the result IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
UI/UX Tip 💡

App speed matters. But what also matters is the perception (!) of speed.

Instead of showing 0% as the initial progress value, you can put a small number so that it looks like your app is already doing some work. https://t.co/HwNJDeNTRT vponamariov [type:: tweet]
"If you don't have a consistent goal in life, you can't live it in a consistent way." Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Your values are always shining through. Because regardless of what you say, your values are always apparent in:
- how you spend your time
- what you pay attention to
- where you direct your energy
- who you choose to associate with IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
As an introvert, I've never really been good at selling. Goes against my natural disposition.

But you don't have to be great at selling in order to be great at sales.

Here's a quick 2 minute video that reveals the lesson I learned.

https://t.co/HrIvsngNIH dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Making the core feature of your product faster, stable, and simpler will often matter more to users than most net-new features they might use. I am always surprised by how far you can go and how much it still matters. Suhail [type:: tweet]
If I had to give a lecture series on marketing, here's 11 points I'd include:
1. Data is like protein:
It’s valuable - but it shouldn’t be your only input.

If all your decisions are guided by A/B tests, you’ll eventually end up with a porn site. george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. Think with headlines first
Mr. Beast has full time staff who's sole job is to write headlines for YouTube videos.

If the headline is good, they then make the video.

This is the inverse of making the headline fit the story.

Think of distribution before creation. george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. The best marketing textbook is your bank balance.
Follow the money backwards from purchase to first hearing about.

It's proven to work by your actions. (Not words) george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. Unbundle Word of Mouth marketing
It’s now Word of WhatsApp, Word of Slack and Word of Discord.

Always ask: “How will people post about this in their group chat?” george__mack [type:: tweet]
1. Find the highest leverage “Bakers Dozen”
Bakers Dozen = 13*

*When the customer was expecting 12

It isn't the 13 that makes the customer happy - it's the unexpected +1

Highest leverage = Largest +1 for customer

Five Guys extra scoop of fries is the best example of this george__mack [type:: tweet]
@naval Making mistakes is better than faking perfections. abovepressuremg [type:: tweet]
Find Balance Between Building / Talking

Contrary to popular belief,

Building is easy

It's taking time off your day,

Putting your ego on the line,

And sitting down to talk to customers that's hard.

But it's what will make your business work (or fail) tibo_maker [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs outlines Apple's strategy for 2011

October 24, 2010 https://t.co/hfiDXfAkAx TechEmails [type:: tweet]
In 3 generations you will be forgotten.

Live a happy, peaceful life. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
“In the end, any marketing program that performs is worth it — if your NRR is 100%+”

What's the "Right" CAC These Days? The One You Can Afford | SaaStr https://t.co/A1hZu9JFwd jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Have been lucky to meet with or study hundreds of companies in 2021.

Here's an ongoing list of company attributes that I find interesting... patrick_oshag [type:: tweet]
My dad’s industry (insurance) ran a nationwide survey of 1500 businesses asking which qualities people most wanted in the people they worked with.

The top answers, in order:
1. Good attitude
2. Gets back quickly
3. Knowledgable
Being pleasant and responsive counts for a lot. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
If you want to be successful you must learn how to delay gratification hustlenconquer [type:: tweet]
Experienced folks from large companies often struggle when they become founders.

They’re used to elegant kaizen type continuous improvement and not brute force breakout and breaking things and shipping fast. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Every time I sit down to write, I put three questions at the top:

• What problem am I solving?
• Whose problem am I solving?
• What does solving that problem unlock?

This way I can write:

• To one person
• To solve one specific problem
• To unlock specific benefits dickiebush [type:: tweet]
“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well.” — Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Try many things, then work on one thing that grows.

Not the other way around. justinkan [type:: tweet]
Life is short so a Stoic...

...doesn't waste time on things outside their control
...always gives their best
...doesn't worry about what might happen
...tries to make a difference
...loves while they can

MEMENTO MORI dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Most markets are a positive sum game, not zero sum.

You don't always need for your major competitor to lose in order for you to win.

Example: Microsoft and Apple have been rivals for decades.

Both are currently worth over $2 TRILLION (with a "T") each.

Both companies won. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Please don’t be afraid to try something different if your original idea isn’t working. Wish we did it sooner. https://t.co/vbkg0Nn4zE daytonmills [type:: tweet]
Focusing on growth can be an unhealthy obsession.

Build a tight customer feedback loop instead and the growth will come. justinkan [type:: tweet]
6 time management techniques from Seneca:
- Remember that you will die
- Value your time more than your possessions
- Be ruthless to things that don't matter
- Realize what time off is for - rest actively, not idly
- Put your day up for review dailystoic [type:: tweet]
The keys to a productive life…
...wake up early
...limit interruptions
...make a little progress everyday
...say no (a lot)
...learn from your mistakes
...pick yourself back up when you slip
...waste no time measuring yourself against other people dailystoic [type:: tweet]
A simple heuristic:

If someone can talk you out of it, you don't want it bad enough. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Woke up at 4am today, stretched and meditated for 30-40 minutes then went back to bed and had a lucid dream. escliu [type:: tweet]
Startups are rarely born with product-market fit. It’s almost always forged with sheer will. KyleTibbitts [type:: tweet]
If you're not prepared to lose, you're not ready to win justinkan [type:: tweet]
UI/UX Design Tip ✨

Always choose the chart type carefully!

Line charts might look trendier but they don't apply to every case.

When the x-axis has limited options, a bar chart is the correct graph type.

Plus, the line chart might introduce false intermediate values. https://t.co/62x1pQqvU1 d__raptis [type:: tweet]
"Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those who you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach." Seneca dailystoic [type:: tweet]
One of the most important books ever written. https://t.co/YPrZ7bugd6 maccaw [type:: tweet]
We've all read Sapiens, right?

If you want to dive deeper and learn more about history, here's a list of 29 incredible books about the past. The first one is required reading IMO.

Big history guy over here!

THREAD: landforce [type:: tweet]
I find that most founders don’t use their competitors’ products often enough

I don’t just mean watching an explainer video on new features, reading release notes, etc.

I mean basically being their customer jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Average public SaaS company has 33,000 customers

Average public mid-market SaaS company has 12,000 customers

And this is at $440,000,000 in ARR

That's really not that many customers. So much more to close.

Such big TAMs. https://t.co/eTRkH5bI6W jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Designing our billing page with a letter from the team. https://t.co/Z3UuP76j6H maccaw [type:: tweet]
Sometimes I catch myself thinking, “If I knew what I know now a year ago I could have saved like $20 million.”

But then I realize there was literally no way to learn what I know now without having gone through what we went through.

Startups are funny like that. Austen [type:: tweet]
Deep Work Day
I’ve read so much about Deep Work I was sure this is something worth pursuing.

In 2018 I changed my work schedule to find a long period of time when I can focus on important things. These are my Deep Work Days. tomik99 [type:: tweet]
Quote of the week from Rationality, on sale 9/28, available for preorder now. https://t.co/mRqAyDEXCM https://t.co/LVYcGrFt5I sapinker [type:: tweet]
Build a life you don't need to escape from. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Don’t worry about people ‘stealing’ your ideas.

If they can do it better than you, the market probably needs you to work on something else anyways. justinkan [type:: tweet]
The less you need the approval of others, the easier it is to do what's right over what's easy. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Starting a business can be painful.

You feel lost 97% of the time - the ups and downs are gut-wrenching.

I wish I had a cheat sheet of principles for my first startup.

So I wrote one.

Here are 40+ learnings about entrepreneurship I wish I knew sooner: jspujji [type:: tweet]
Unpopular opinion:

Kids shouldn’t sleep in their parents beds. Ever. At any age. Even for a minute. sweatystartup [type:: tweet]
Kids need about 5-10 toys to be happy.

More than that and they are just distracted and your house becomes a war zone. sweatystartup [type:: tweet]
Telling a kid “no” is the best thing you can do for them.

Giving in every time makes your life miserable and turns the kids into monsters. sweatystartup [type:: tweet]
A kid is like an energy mirror.

Bring the energy -> happy and excited kids.

Stair at your phone and ignore them -> miserable grumpy kids. sweatystartup [type:: tweet]
A weekly date night is the best investment you can make when it comes to a strong family and strong kids. sweatystartup [type:: tweet]
Harry's collected 100k emails in just one week leading up to their launch.

Their Co-founder, Jeff Raider, said that 77% of the emails were collected via referrals.

On average, each person referred more than 3 people.

And here's how you can replicate it 🧵 alexgarcia_atx [type:: tweet]
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

If you get advice from enough people, the advice will cancel out.

You can find 2 smart people to take opposite sides of the argument on virtually every topic.

Focus on developing your instincts and trusting your own intuition. RomeenSheth [type:: tweet]
Surround yourself with open minded people vs. close minded people

Open Minded People:
- Ask genuine questions
- Insatiably curious
- Listen attentively
Close Minded People
- Make statements instead of ask questions
- Focus on being right
- Speak more RomeenSheth [type:: tweet]
Hiring a housekeeper is one of the best ROIs for my quality of life nickgraynews [type:: tweet]
"Why should you feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice." Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Two kinds of fools - those who take religion literally, and those who think it has no value. naval [type:: tweet]
Life is essentially about one thing: the choices you make. justinkan [type:: tweet]
How to master complexity and problem solving in science and engineering?

Build insight and understanding first, so that you do not drown in complexity.

Approximations foster understanding.

A thread on Mastering Complexity:

https://t.co/ovbdDnVqhP https://t.co/WADTDRxEHJ Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
+2 vs. x2 https://t.co/TPZOGOeqKH jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Love this piece from Jony Ive about how Steve Jobs thought about ideas.

I try to take this to heart. Push for the ideas that I feel strongly about -- even though they take years to resolve. Or in my case, sometimes over a decade. https://t.co/ZL8gzsKzJc dharmesh [type:: tweet]
If your income is coming from labor rather than assets, you’re being decimated by hidden inflation. naval [type:: tweet]
The difference between wanting and achieving is discipline. busines_corner [type:: tweet]
1. How to become a leader?
- If you want to be a Leader, never act surprised.
- In business, act as if everything, I repeat, everything is a logical consequence of something else that happened.
- This is useful during crisis situations. Always project that you are in control. UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
1. How to win an argument?
- When locked in an argument, take care not to lay down all your cards at once.
- Save your main argument for the last and use only secondary points to stand your ground.
- When you find things going in your stride, flash your main argument to win UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
1. How to build trust quickly?
- When you’re striking up a conversation with someone, try mirroring their body language.
- Subtly mirroring people’s body language subconsciously makes them think you’re in sync, which works very well for building trust. UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
How to learn faster?

The Cone of Learning created by Edgar Dale (1969) https://t.co/jmcgacj1qT Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
"The goal of media is to make every problem, your problem."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Billionaire driving a Lamborghini.
- 10 Million views
Billionaire showing you how to build a business to afford a Lamborghini .
- 200 views
People don’t want to be educated, they want to be entertained. IAmAaronWill [type:: tweet]
Your partner’s stress language is just as important as your partner’s love language. taylorburrowes [type:: tweet]
"School, politics, sports, and games train us to compete against others. True rewards - wealth, knowledge, love, fitness, and equanimity - come from ignoring others and improving ourselves." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
Some startups explode out of the gate

Some take years to hit their stride, and then rocket

The IRR is in the former

The epic multiple is often in the latter jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Only 25% of the way through it but “The Toyota Production System” by Taiichi Ohno is fantastic on like every level.

Reading it is like a spiritual experience. https://t.co/S5SAIS6PJt TaylorPearsonMe [type:: tweet]
When choosing between investments, ask yourself, “where is my dollar going to work the hardest?” naval [type:: tweet]
"I have this theory that 99% of work that you do is useless. You still have to do it because it's iterating your way to the 1% that is useful. But, in an ideal world, if you are omniscient, you would just cut to the 1%." - @naval

Listen:

https://t.co/swcNaAyYre NavalPodClips [type:: tweet]
Outsource everything except being. naval [type:: tweet]
Biggest challenge with rolling out a second product:

Sales will sell whatever is easiest to sell

A second product needs a second sales team maybe even from Day 01 jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Traits I like in people:
- clarity of thinking
- bias for action
- brevity
- continuous improvement and learning m_franceschetti [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/a0F22R5Hv7 elonmusk [type:: tweet]
Spend the best hours of your day on the biggest opportunity, not the biggest problem. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
"Devote the rest of your life to making progress." Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Neural networks really, truly learn. It's not a fancy trick.

This is one of the most remarkable things humans have ever figured out, and the implications are difficult to overstate. sama [type:: tweet]
@awilkinson Great thread.

“It is not greed that drives the world,
but envy.” — Warren Buffett

https://t.co/9dkWQN1zKo PwnzAll [type:: tweet]
Startups need customers more than they need capital. Gentle reminder. BeingPractical [type:: tweet]
The only thing that will make you happy is choosing to be happy. naval [type:: tweet]
The best marketing advice I've ever had. https://t.co/CU6JD0idCv george__mack [type:: tweet]
I don't treat my calendar as a blank surface to pile events onto. I think of it as a ledger of how many times I've traded my time away. Julian [type:: tweet]
It’s really hard to scale a startup if you as CEO have zero time to just plan and think about what’s coming next. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
If you aren’t sure how to get to $100m ARR, just get to $1m ARR

Then just ask your customers

They will basically tell you jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Is this a good or a bad thing?

Like anything, it's neither good nor bad. It's just a thing.

A very different thing. ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
See things as they are, not as you want them to be. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
My grandkids will never believe 50 years from now that:
1. Humans drove cars themselves and risked their life every time
2. Humans spent 10 hours looking at a tiny phone screen
3. Humans went to work from 9 to 5
4. Humans ate dead animals nasdaily [type:: tweet]
"The menu is not the meal." — Alan Watts https://t.co/IzXHhIDega visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
"Value your time. It is all you have. It’s more important than your money. It’s more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
There are 2 types of startup teams.

One which sucks founders time for current issues (which may be due to decisions of past).

Another which frees up founders time from current issues and let them move freely into building the future without worrying about the present. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
When the number of employees grows faster than users, customers, and revenues in a startup/business.
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 anushka_twt [type:: tweet]
If you want to be wealthy, spend your time earning, learning, or relaxing. Outsource or ignore everything else. naval [type:: tweet]
The toughest hole to pull yourself out of isn't slow growth

It's not even almost running out of money
Or losing a top customer
Or even losing a cofounder

No, the toughest hole is getting too tired

And the only solution is making a great hire to help

Go find her jasonlk [type:: tweet]
13 Copywriting Tips From Apple 🧵 alexgarcia_atx [type:: tweet]
What is the smallest change a person can make to their everyday routine to extend healthy lifespan?

REMOVE SUGAR FROM YOUR DIET PeterDiamandis [type:: tweet]
If you don't love talking to customers

Ideally 10+ a week

Then stick to self-serve

You gotta love talking to customers, even at at $2k+ ACV jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Nothing beats an effective referral program.

Dropbox used one to grow their userbase by 3900% in 15 months.

And I'm going to show you how.

Here are 7 referral programs you can use 🧵 alexgarcia_atx [type:: tweet]
Customers have all the answers you need for your startup. Please speak with some today. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
“Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.” — @naval https://t.co/15vtoQBvbP OzolinsJanis [type:: tweet]
If you’re 60-70% sure about a decision at your startup just make the call and move on. Speed wins. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
7 threads to help you win others to your way of thinking - through clear writing and compelling storytelling: dickiebush [type:: tweet]
Have you ever noticed that the most argumentative people rarely persuade anyone of anything?

The most persuasive people don’t argue more—they observe, listen, and ask questions.

Persuasion is an art that requires a paintbrush, not a sledgehammer. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
The most important question is not “How do I get what I want?” - it’s “What do I want?” naval [type:: tweet]
"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." - Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Meanwhile, Divante reports the end of Q3 with a cumulative result of 56m PLN ($14m) of revenue and nearly 12m PLN ($3m) of EBITDA (YoY 70%+).

I am very happy because it means that we have built a company that not only works without founders, but also grows dynamically. tomik99 [type:: tweet]
After working on my startups all day, I like to wind down by working on my startups all evening. dr [type:: tweet]
Our best work is the work we find ourselves doing, when there is no obligation to do so. naval [type:: tweet]
Diet is about discipline.

Meditation is about observation.

Exercise is about consistency. justinkan [type:: tweet]
Only the best can really take constructive feedback

Everyone else just wants to be told they are doing well jasonlk [type:: tweet]
The time difference between 2021 and 1980 is the same as between 1980 and 1929

Let that sink in natbaker [type:: tweet]
6 questions to ask with everything you write:

• What problem am I solving?
• Whose problem am I solving?
• What are the benefits of solving it?
• What promise am I making to the reader?
• What emotion am I trying to generate?
• What's the next action my reader should take? dickiebush [type:: tweet]
CEOs after $1m ARR that say that don't have product-market fit more often just can't build good software fast enough jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Clear writing is the single most important skill in business. nathanbarry [type:: tweet]
Aspire to move past room-mates, commutes, alarm clocks, and calendars. naval [type:: tweet]
Mathematician Richard Hamming used to sit down with experts from other fields, cut the small talk, and ask two questions:
1. What's the most important problem in your field?
2. Why aren't you working on it?
And this was offputting to many colleagues.

Here's why: https://t.co/nkHpB7kgI4 dickiebush [type:: tweet]
For people who are actually investing a large % of their own capital -- what do you consider the current best hedges/investments against inflation? Please only reply if you have at least 10-20% of your net worth in your answer. Thanks! #convictioncheck tferriss [type:: tweet]
When your happiness is tied to something in the future, then your present is diminished. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
"I never understand anything until I have written about it."

– Horace Walpole paulg [type:: tweet]
Physics is so Cool https://t.co/jLphYFdYZf amazing_physics [type:: tweet]
The hardest part of all of this isn't shipping code

Or winning the deal

Or raising capital

It's getting really, really good at recruiting jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can’t fathom."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The hardest thing to do is to find product-market fit. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Spend your time with people who give you energy, not those who take it. justinkan [type:: tweet]
Breaking news: Successful startup has intense work environment. Is not for everyone. asanwal [type:: tweet]
7 questions for better thinking
1. Is that a fact or my opinion?
2. What is my % confidence on this?
3. What do I care about most?
4. How might another person view this?
5. Is it truly a binary choice?
6. What would I do if I weren't afraid?
7. Am I deciding or justifying? shreyas [type:: tweet]
"The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Table lists, menu bars, and data displays don't always have to follow the default UI pattern.

Breaking free and going beyond them can give you a much richer UX. https://t.co/2TH4n0enlV uxmovement [type:: tweet]
If you're wondering how to design your startup's product so that everyone will want it in 10 years, just do whatever would make your friends want it this week. Otherwise your company won't exist in 10 years anyway. paulg [type:: tweet]
"The reason to win the game is so that you can be free of it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
It is easy to feel trapped by your ‘Zone of Competence’: things you are good at doing, but do not love.

I spent 15 years doing that.

To truly find meaning in your work, focus on your ‘Zone of Genius’ instead: justinkan [type:: tweet]
"Do it in small pieces and talk to each other"

That's pretty much what Agile is. It's not complicated. allenholub [type:: tweet]
The best people do a good job because they have an internal sense of excellence, not because of a misplaced notion of accountability. allenholub [type:: tweet]
My life changed upon realizing this. https://t.co/P8cxdHIhHM jsmian [type:: tweet]
Upgrade your brain with The Beginning of Infinity and The Fabric of Reality.

Listen to @ToKTeacher podcasts alongside. naval [type:: tweet]
When building a portfolio of investments that can have non-linear outcomes, never sell early.

You may be right most of the time, but the one time you’re wrong will cost you most of the returns. naval [type:: tweet]
The world is going to move faster and faster from here on.

People and institutions who embrace this will be richly rewarded.

People and institutions who do not or cannot are going to be challenged.

Adaptability and speed have gone from valuable to critical. sama [type:: tweet]
In 3 generations you will be forgotten.

Live a happy, peaceful life. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
"Outsource everything except being."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
How old are you?
Me: https://t.co/U8goFKkqpo nerds_feed [type:: tweet]
"Decisions:• If you can’t decide, the answer is no.• If two equally difficult paths, choose the one more painful in the short term (pain avoidance is creating an illusion of equality).• Choose the path that leaves you more equanimous in the long term." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
One reason to meditate is to prove to yourself how little you actually need out of life. naval [type:: tweet]
My reading list for the next year 😊.

Learning from people I admire in the online world.

@Nicolascole77 @shl https://t.co/kgn4Bhjepd jerinenicole [type:: tweet]
A common trait in all those who succeed repeatedly in startups, standup comedy, investing, products, marketing is extraordinary ability to distill insights.

Without the ability to hunt insights, you either become an one trick pony or just a hyper experimenting monkey. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
4/ Algorithms to Live By - by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths

How long should it take you to make a decision? 37%.

As in, 37% of the total time you're willing to spend on it.

@brianchristian and Griffiths explain how our minds are more robotic than we think. amandanat [type:: tweet]
@amandanat One book that has had a deep impact on me is "Autobiography of a Yogi".

Don't need to be a spiritual or a religious person to understand its meaning and impact. spk100 [type:: tweet]
Why VCs give you money:

Pre-seed: prove it out

Seed: get the engine going

Series A, B, C, D: hire an A+ management team jasonlk [type:: tweet]
1/ Here is probably the single most important concept you can learn for doing well in your career, business, and life:

The Principal-Agent Problem.

Today, let's understand what this problem is all about and why @naval considers it his most useful mental model 👇 https://t.co/ZZ0kML9S2Z StoaHQ [type:: tweet]
If you want to start a startup and don't know what to build, one way to get ideas is to ask if there's something you could create that would help your peers to make money. Any startup that helps people make money tends to (a) be popular and (b) make money itself. paulg [type:: tweet]
Solving customer problems feels better than sex, working out, and seeing your first born child – combined TrevMcKendrick [type:: tweet]
UX Designers, want a shortcut to understanding your users?
Work customer support or the help desk for a few months. You will learn about all the things they expect to do with your product and how they think and react when they are unable to do them. Priceless insight. LizTheWhizard [type:: tweet]
You really can only focus on 1-3 core things

The biggest problem with mediocre hires is they force you to spend so much time on 4-400 jasonlk [type:: tweet]
If you ever need to delegate a task, do this:
1. Outline the vision.
2. Share resources.
3. Describe your definition of done. https://t.co/0x0MrIhjOt david_perell [type:: tweet]
"You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Watch out for people who argue against something whenever they can find something—anything—wrong with it, without properly weighing all the pluses and minuses. Such people tend to be poor decision makers. #principleoftheday https://t.co/7T5AincutL RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Divante is joining forces with Cloudflight.
The transaction amount with the full earn-out is 260m pln (63m USD).
https://t.co/GDk2wZupaH tomik99 [type:: tweet]
"My 1 repeated learning in life: 'There Are No Adults' Everyone's making it up as they go along. Figure it out yourself, and do it." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
Last week's 📰
@loom 3 ways to use async to get $10B
@fridayhq a wiki shouldn't be the home for your company
@workplaceless can remote teams be creative?
@timecamp how to manage flextime

@DropboxDesign w/ @nomade_moiselle on the Remote First Podcast🔥

https://t.co/5IPOnjctCy GrowrkRemote [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/5JPvBUwDwc jackbutcher [type:: tweet]
Separate your "must-dos" from your "like-to-dos" and don't mistakenly slip any "like-to-dos" onto the first list. #principleoftheday https://t.co/PjJNb8FUN5 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
How to build a $10,000/mo SaaS in a saturated market (by changing one of these 5 things): iamwillcannon [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/laeGmHuU52 _anshulkhare [type:: tweet]
“The five most dangerous words in business are: Everybody else is doing it.”

— Warren Buffett shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
The Path Not Taken

Obsess over the past and you forget to invent your own future.

h/t @waitbutwhy https://t.co/crazuIR6T4 chrishlad [type:: tweet]
“People fall so in love with their pain, they can’t leave it behind. The same as the stories they tell. We trap ourselves.” — Chuck Palahniuk tferriss [type:: tweet]
"Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more." Seneca dailystoic [type:: tweet]
“I train my brain to perform one task incredibly well.

One task alone... to never conform.”

Here's how he explained it: Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
The Funnel to Nonconformity:

+Become a funnel for ideas
+Let ideas fight based on merit, not emotion
+Find courage to act in nonconformity
= Opportunities others never see, or are too scared to act upon

An uncrowded market leads to outsized returns in life, and wealth. Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
#8 Numbers > Narrative

Anytime something is common practice, check if it’s common sense.

Return to the very first principle there is: 1+1 = 2.

Numbers are often terrible liars. Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
When you ask customers to switch from an existing vendor to you …

Do you offer to do ALL the work?

The migration?
The implementation?
The integrations?
The data mapping?

If not, imagine all the friction you could remove if you did jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Hierarchy. https://t.co/nzdvUMzSHw visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
Sound advice from @neilhimself via @Join1440: https://t.co/pIbrWM2fBu DanielPink [type:: tweet]
Today is day 1 to start this: https://t.co/n57VOE5Tgr Suhail [type:: tweet]
Don't just write a "To Do" list. Write a "To Be" list. wealth_director [type:: tweet]
@HarryStebbings Case and point.
https://t.co/xjkdqlHnmT lzrscg [type:: tweet]
Whether you’re a small startup or large company, the rate of decisions you can make that turn into value for customers is one of the most important drivers of success. Always good to reduce the number of dependencies to getting those decisions made. levie [type:: tweet]
Five Feynman rules for Life: 🧠

i) Take mistakes as Lessons.
ii) Focus is the key.
iii) Study hard what interests you the most.
iv) Don't worry about what other people think.
v) Skills are more valuable than your grades. ProfFeynman [type:: tweet]
In the modern world, don’t minimize your risks - maximize your opportunities naval [type:: tweet]
A reminder that Mailchimp, the worst email provider ever, is worth $12 billion.

You don't have to be the best to win. iamwillcannon [type:: tweet]
"Reading is more efficient when at rest. Audio is more efficient when in motion." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
"Listening to books instead of reading them is like drinking your vegetables instead of eating them."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
You only have time for what matters if you say no to what doesn't. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
"If you don’t care to be liked, they can’t touch you."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Seven ways to differentiate your product:
1. Be the cheapest
2. Be the highest quality
3. Be the most convenient
4. Be the safest
5. Sell a proprietary product
6. Sell something that makes people feel great buying
7. Focus on a niche underserved market https://t.co/9QNo6Qid3f lennysan [type:: tweet]
A fast no is better than a long maybe karanortman [type:: tweet]
Websites don't sell products.

Words do.

Nearly all companies undervalue copy when redesigning their websites. searchbrat [type:: tweet]
Copywriting tip: avoid friction phrases. Your marketing should explain what they’ll get, not what they have to do: https://t.co/63S3XGscVc jmoserr [type:: tweet]
VC expectations at $100m ARR:

2012: 30%+ growth
2016: 50%+ growth
2022: 100%+ growth jasonlk [type:: tweet]
I don’t believe in a/b testing in startups

It’s a crutch for product teams, it excuses incomplete & poor thinking, and it takes all pressure off developing good judgment and customer intuition.

Fine if you have millions of users, not when you need to put zeros on the dashboard. justindross [type:: tweet]
@justindross “At Apple, we we never staged any A/ B tests for any of the software on the iPhone. When it came to choosing a color, we picked one. We used our good taste—and our knowledge of how to make software accessible to people with visual difficulties —and we moved on.”
@kocienda lakhan_dhingra [type:: tweet]
@justindross But the company only has 8mo of runway and needs to improve by 2x, 3x, not 20%.

They run themselves into the ground and roll their eyes at ppl who tell them they need to take bigger swings. Brady_The_Flynn [type:: tweet]
The best SaaS companies just move faster

It gets done this quarter

The feature gets rolled out now, not late in the year

The hires get made this quarter. All of them.

This compounds at an epic rate jasonlk [type:: tweet]
@patrick_oshag Besides Scratch & code org, my kids (8 &10) loved Ted-Ed's "Think Like a Coder" 13-episode mini series on YouTube. Great to get them excited about the coding world, with a story format they relate to. Powerful women coder-Hero storyline wins parent's hearts too :) _rpSrivastava [type:: tweet]
@patrick_oshag Just got this Marble Run from National Geographic. Simple physics explainers, infinite possibilities. https://t.co/P7E8r4ps5H RampCapitalLLC [type:: tweet]
@RampCapitalLLC @patrick_oshag Get a perplexus. My 11 yo always seems to be working on it and when he puts it down the 13 or 16 yo frequently pick it up and play with it too https://t.co/IBp3YaZ2lE dds_dave [type:: tweet]
Equipping kids with statements isn’t as powerful as equipping them with stories. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Code review does not work (and asynchronous code review is particularly bad). As Deming said: "You can not inspect quality into a product." NO form of code review yields quality. Collaborative programming that assures that the defects don’t exist to begin with does. allenholub [type:: tweet]
"You get rewarded for unique knowledge, not for effort.

Effort is required to create unique knowledge."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
People are complicated.

Leading them isn't.

A simple plan for leading well: 🧵 wdmorrisjr [type:: tweet]
Clear Expectations

People want to do a good job.

Sure, some don't. There are bad apples.

Most people, though, derive satisfaction from a job well done.

A leader's role:

Tell them what a good job looks like. wdmorrisjr [type:: tweet]
99% of people blame
1% of people fix ryanbreslow [type:: tweet]
@allenholub I prefer pair/mob programming over reviews any day. Especially when there is quite the gap between developer’s skillset. Too much context switching from your own work to go back ‘n forth for simple change requests. Just do it together.#BuddySystem 618_developer [type:: tweet]
"All self-help boils down to "choose long-term over short-term."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
99% of meetings are a waste of time.

Here’s a framework I learned to make sure your meetings stay efficient:

POST

Purpose
Outcome
Structure
Timing

Outline POST in every calendar invite and your meetings will shrink from 60 min to 25 min, or 30 min to 12 min. mrsharma [type:: tweet]
I learned my lesson: a leader’s job is first and foremost to create clarity on the problems to be solved. 17/18 reinpk [type:: tweet]
A lot of folks that look like they are in third place in a market, fourth place

Are really first place in one key segment of the market

Today, in Cloud, in SaaS, that can easily get you to $100m ARR and beyond jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"If you can't decide, the answer is No."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
1. Slouching.
- Slouching and allowing your body to fold in on itself makes you appear weak and unenergetic.
- It makes a terrible impression.
FIX:
- Straight posture will help you appear capable, confident, and energized. UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
1. Feet pointing away.
- Feet pointing towards the door or other direction apart from the person you are talking to indicate you are looking forward to leaving.
FIX:
- Make sure you are pointing your feet towards the person you are talking to. UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
@lexfridman And 99% of emails could be replaced with doing some actual work. hubermanlab [type:: tweet]
I’m this old. https://t.co/uTQpvpTSBb paraschopra [type:: tweet]
I have been writing online for 10 years.

In that time, I have gone viral more times than I can count.

And accumulated 250,000,000+ views.

These are the 5 rules I live by—to write things that reach the masses: Nicolascole77 [type:: tweet]
Bad questions to ask:

• Which app should I use?
• What time of day should I post?
• What platforms should I publish on?

Good questions to ask:

• What problem am I solving?
• Whose problem am I solving?
• What benefits am I unlocking?

Fewer tactics, more strategy. dickiebush [type:: tweet]
Wordle is the ultimate, light-weight team game each morning for remote companies. Suhail [type:: tweet]
We teach people how to treat us by what we accept, not what we say. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
"If you want to make the wrong decision, ask everyone." – @naval https://t.co/MDcMMsDlj5 visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
"Three Times Wiser" is a newsletter about big ideas, mental models, brain bugs, and principles of wise thinking.

This thread will be updated on a daily basis.

Subscribe here for more insights and never miss an update:

https://t.co/4hszY93cLq Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Instead of tracking every available metric, pick 3-7 that are the most relevant to your business’ success and focus on those. That will help your team know what’s essential and cultivate a culture of growth. ThomasSmale [type:: tweet]
“A project’s success is determined by the team’s ability to generate and sustain momentum. A good way to generate early momentum in a project is to prioritize quick wins and explorations that tighten the feedback loop.” https://t.co/ULW2D7BtdH

Via @evanm TaylorPearsonMe [type:: tweet]
The first demo for a new project does not need to be right—it very rarely will be. However, it should be clear and express a point of view. kocienda [type:: tweet]
Having kids is one of the best ways to gain happiness and motivation at once

Working out is a close #2 jspujji [type:: tweet]
Decide what you want from your business and go get it. ThomasSmale [type:: tweet]
I think I’ve done 2,000 interviews. I've seen things.

AMA Suhail [type:: tweet]
@gavin_gee If you were CEO of your prior company, what would you have done differently? Suhail [type:: tweet]
Every startup founder should read this insightful thread from Suhail about how to do interviews. And frankly every applicant should too; if you're good, Mighty is the kind of place you want to work, and most of his tips for interviewers are also implicit tips for interviewees. paulg [type:: tweet]
What’s the key to going viral?

Create a “holy shit” moment for the consumer.
- “Holy shit” that’s crazy
- “Holy shit” that’s expensive
- “Holy shit” that’s moving
- “Holy shit” that’s hilarious
- “Holy shit” that’s unexpected businessbarista [type:: tweet]
Kanye West documentary is excellent. If you're a founder, it'll hit you right in the chest.

Made me want to work even harder. Suhail [type:: tweet]
Startups are a “get shit done” game not a “perfect plan strategy” game. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
These devices could detect incoming calls before they actually happened.

Remember this sound? 😊 https://t.co/iaqQfqMptO vponamariov [type:: tweet]
The most distant space probe, Voyager 1, was launched 44 years ago. It's now about 23 billion kilometers away. That's .0025 light years. That's how far a light year is. paulg [type:: tweet]
Pretty doesn’t mean usable! DenisJeliazkov [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs once said:

"The most powerful person is the storyteller."

And luckily, storytelling is a skill.

But most people have never tried to learn – because no one showed them where to start.

So here are 6 of the best storytelling threads (so you can start learning today): https://t.co/Fg4A88WCBS dickiebush [type:: tweet]
Something I taught 9 yo: Even if the stuff you're learning in your classes is just mindless memorization, it's still worth getting good grades, because good grades get you sorted with smarter people, and being around smart people is genuinely worthwhile. paulg [type:: tweet]
"But we're having quality time together..."

— 9 yo trying to convince me to delay bedtime paulg [type:: tweet]
Almost everything will become a commodity.

What won’t?

Original ideas and trust businessbarista [type:: tweet]
Pomyślałem że pojadę rano i kupie trochę sprzętu który może się przydać na Ukrainie. Jakież było moje zdziwienie gdy okazało się że kupowałem ostatnie sztuki karimat, peleryny przeciwdeszczowych, koców termicznych. Ekspedientki szukały po całym sklepie tych koców term. 😀🇺🇦🇵🇱 https://t.co/5JYMgHPJO0 tomekpopow [type:: tweet]
I devoured 50 years of Warren Buffett shareholder letters.

The result?

12 timeless principles from the greatest investor in the world.

Here are the golden nuggets🧵 chrishlad [type:: tweet]
You can push your team to do what you want them to do

Or you can let them run at what they are great at jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Good and meaningfull lines thought of sharing.

@warikoo #doEpicShit https://t.co/GSWRoAEsqw pinu233 [type:: tweet]
Eat like a lion, work like a lion, feel like a lion, live like a lion. naval [type:: tweet]
You do not find a happy life. You make it. ProfFeynman [type:: tweet]
"You can also commit injustice by doing nothing." Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
I used to think the hard part about product was knowing what to build.

I was wrong.

The hard part is boiling the answer down to something simple enough to drive action. joulee [type:: tweet]
Direct response marketing is all about
- Understanding customers’ needs
- Grabbing their attention
- Using psychology to sell jspujji [type:: tweet]
The most serious problem facing any organization is the one that cannot be discussed. pmarca [type:: tweet]
Other than coding, what’s the highest leverage skill?

I say marketing dtcprophet [type:: tweet]
The Circle of Responsibility https://t.co/uPnsSMMEw1 Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
What are the key traits of mediocre people at work? kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
@kunalb11 It’s never their fault. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Want to DOUBLE your productivity this week?

Try my SHORT Sunday ritual: jspujji [type:: tweet]
This is the most interesting book I’ve read in many years https://t.co/9546XWI2Pc patrick_oshag [type:: tweet]
I have a new Sunday ritual: 1 hour walk with nothing but a small pocket notebook and pen.

No phone
No music
No podcasts
No articles
No audiobooks

I let my mind run free and write down any ideas or insights.

A simple way to prime the mind for a creative, productive week ahead. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Sometimes, the simplest thing is the smartest thing to do.

Like buying bitcoin.
Eating simple foods.
Saying no to bullshit requests. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
"Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most."
- Buddha BotPhilosophyQ [type:: tweet]
“I disappoint people every single day, and I will continue to do so until I gain back control of my time” - @Naval, on managing time & schedule _rogos [type:: tweet]
10 visuals that will change how you see success & productivity:
1. https://t.co/gagZeSmwfR elliottaleksndr [type:: tweet]
I just talked to a founder whose startup is growing "only" 25% a year and thus felt he needed to get bought. I explained that if he did, he'd need to find somewhere to invest the proceeds, and he'd be unlikely to find any investments that grew at 25% a year. paulg [type:: tweet]
Greatest enemy of a good plan is a dream of a perfect plan.

Don’t wait, keep on moving forward …

Slow & steady wins! syedbalkhi [type:: tweet]
We all know setting personal boundaries will make us happier.

But setting boundaries with friends, family, and other close relationships is difficult.

Here are 20 helpful lessons from the NYT bestselling book "Set Boundaries, Find Peace" by @NedraTawwab: https://t.co/LzOVY2m0Lx AlexAndBooks_ [type:: tweet]
"From $0 to $100m ARR, you have to focus on a single buyer.

SaaS is so big today, you can now get to $100m ARR on a single buyer persona.

Stay focused. Wait until after $100m for more personas." @spenserskates https://t.co/rtF7HZ383G jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions to help the current thing rather than their results."--Milton Friedman, probably pmarca [type:: tweet]
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI
UX isn't UI itzareous [type:: tweet]
"Individuals rarely admit mistakes. Groups never do."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"If you aren’t curious about it, you’ll never be good at it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
People think they can’t change themselves, but they can.

People think they can change others, but they can’t. naval [type:: tweet]
You’re doing sales because you failed at marketing.

You’re doing marketing because you failed at product. naval [type:: tweet]
The reason the match between founders and ideas matters so much is that the best companies do best when they're run by their founders. Which, bizarrely enough, means it matters a lot whether Brian Chesky finds his job interesting. Fortunately for Airbnb, he does. paulg [type:: tweet]
80% of marketing and sales comes down to grabbing someone's attention and making it easy for them to buy what you're selling. heykahn [type:: tweet]
Distribution v. Product is a silly debate. They both drive each other in a fundamental way. jspujji [type:: tweet]
"Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge."
- Carl Jung NoteToCare [type:: tweet]
@mkobach Patterns in source code are a bad sign, not a good one. They mean the code is a bunch of de facto macroexpansions. paulg [type:: tweet]
Intelligent individuals learn from every thing and every one; average people, from their experiences. The stupid already have all the answers.

— Socrates warikoo [type:: tweet]
Want to learn how to draw your ideas?

I’ve spent the last 5 years reading 100s of books to find the most accessible way to draw.

Even if you think you are ‘artistically challenged’.

Here’s the top 5 books to help you go from drawing dunce to drawing demon, lighting fast 👇. EvansNifty [type:: tweet]
The common wisdom is:

"Hire great people. Leave them alone."

It's actually wrong.

It should be:

"Hire great people. Help them be their best."

As much as we are all attracted to the idea of "hire and forget"

You're doing people a disservice if you're not helping them. girdley [type:: tweet]
#5. Force your VPs to come up with a plan to improve if they haven’t already (and the best ones do this on their own).

Don’t let them blame others on the team, or holes on the org chart. Every functional area can always improve. jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"A busy calendar and a busy mind would destroy your ability to do great things in this world.

If you want to do great things, you need free time and you need a free mind."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
What’s the best way to ask for feedback?

Don't.

Instead, ask for advice.

#DanielPink #ThePowerOfRegret #Advice https://t.co/PSgMR2PxmS DanielPink [type:: tweet]
"If you can't decide, the answer is No."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The root of all suffering is attachment."
- Buddha NoteToCare [type:: tweet]
"If you can’t delete an email without flinching or responding, you won’t scale."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
How to get nothing done at a startup:

“Do you think we can do x by y?”

How to get a ton done at a startup:

“Tell me what would have to be true to do x by y.” Austen [type:: tweet]
"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without."
- Buddha Johnmcdonough79 [type:: tweet]
"You are what you do, not what you say you'll do."
- Carl Jung NoteToCare [type:: tweet]
Bdb zebrane. 17 sposobów, na które w myśleniu używamy wygodnych poręczy, aby ograniczyć wysiłek i osiągnąć komfort - kosztem precyzji i prawdy.

https://t.co/LjtxOHUvF6 vxel [type:: tweet]
"Life truly is a single-player game. Nobody stays by your side forever."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
@naval Embrace the truth even when it doesn’t benefit you, it ultimately will. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
You can’t imitate your way to greatness because you can only copy the effect, not the cause. naval [type:: tweet]
Throwing a lot of mediocre people at a problem gets you nowhere

(This is what mediocre VPs do btw) jasonlk [type:: tweet]
While it pays to be open-minded, you also have to be discerning. Remember that the quality of the life you get will depend largely on the quality of the decisions that you make as you pursue your goals. 1/4 https://t.co/4Q7LSmA5tH RayDalio [type:: tweet]
A big part of marketing and sales is just reminding busy people to do something. jspujji [type:: tweet]
"Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for some imaginary tomorrow."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
1. "Associate with people who are likely to improve you.
Welcome those who you are capable of improving.

The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach."
- Seneca Philosophy_DQ [type:: tweet]
1. “Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more.”
- Seneca Philosophy_DQ [type:: tweet]
1. “Every night before going to sleep, we must ask ourselves:
What weakness did I overcome today? What virtue did I acquire?”
- Seneca Philosophy_DQ [type:: tweet]
1. "True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future,
not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have,

which is sufficient, for he that is so, wants nothing. "
- Seneca Philosophy_DQ [type:: tweet]
"You will get rich by giving society what it wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
"In the end, you win through superior craftsmanship, not marketing." Robert Greene RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
"You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"You don’t need mentors, you need action."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"People spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking about what they should be doing."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
A great sales rep does most of the work for the prospect:

Does the scheduling
Does the demos
Solves the problem
Helps sell other stakeholders
Follows up
Simplifies deployment

Yes, this is a lot more work than sending a Calendly link the next day, I do admit jasonlk [type:: tweet]
7 powerful concepts everyone should teach their children: heykahn [type:: tweet]
Zanotowaliśmy w Brand24 najlepszy kwartał w historii firmy zarówno pod kątem wzrostu MRR, jak i sprzedaży. Rekurencyjne przychody w ujęciu rocznym przekroczyły właśnie 20M zł, a kwartał do kwartału urośliśmy o 21%. Gratulacje dla pracowitego Zespołu! Więcej nowości niebawem 💪🔥 https://t.co/Vh41Xldrzg sadek [type:: tweet]
Weekend time! 🎉 Check out this thread - a watchlist for UX Designers! 🍿 #netflix #weekend #ux #uxdesign https://t.co/XmgEGm2BnE uxgoodies [type:: tweet]
The good big companies are overstaffed by 2x. The bad big companies are overstaffed by 4x or more. pmarca [type:: tweet]
“A mistake repeated more than once is a decision.”

~ Paulo Coelho lawofthinking [type:: tweet]
Don't sell startup features.

Sell solutions to problems.

Pretty simple. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Startups biggest advantage against larger companies is speed of execution so please leverage this. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
When you made a product without UX research https://t.co/M1gNwFh4N5 vponamariov [type:: tweet]
Trust me when I say:
- Setting clear expectations with your team
- Marking to market at least monthly
- Adjusting to their strengths
Will make it 10x easier to produce 10x outcomes.

They will not have an aligned mental map or context unless you share & compare regularly. dklineii [type:: tweet]
Being really close to your startup's customers and just listening to their pain points is one of highest ROI things you can possibly do. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
60% of what a CEO does is write.
Dont let anyone tell you otherwise or they arent CEOing correctly SeanEcom [type:: tweet]
When you launch your startup go on every podcast and tell your story. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
"Just like a low resting heart rate is the byproduct of intense exercise, low anxiety is the byproduct of intense self-examination." - Naval Ravikant RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
“When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.”

~ Paulo Coelho lawofthinking [type:: tweet]
The more hiring a startup does before reaching product-market fit, the less likely it is to ever reach it. KyleTibbitts [type:: tweet]
@mkobach Don't ask "does that make sense?" Or "need any help?". You'll just hear, "I'm good".

Ask "what's the least clear part of what you need to do?"

Not a yes-no. It's required to have an answer nikil_ragav [type:: tweet]
@mkobach In 2014 @jasonlk gave this advice in the earliest days at @Salesloft

Several roles and bosses later, haven’t missed a Sunday since. tami__mcqueen [type:: tweet]
@mkobach This is exactly what he said to me on my first day at my first job. It has always stayed with me.

https://t.co/HRGaC19tKY Rithikvalsan [type:: tweet]
"The overeducated are worse off than the undereducated, having traded common sense for the illusion of knowledge."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
people either happen to the world, or the world happens to them. sama [type:: tweet]
If you're interviewing a VP candidate, an agency, a key IC, someone that will be an owner

And you feel like you know more about part of their job than they do

Don't make the hire jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs said:

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.”

Here’s the storytelling framework Jobs used (that you can too): https://t.co/PMQOG2X4bU nathanbaugh27 [type:: tweet]
"Children are happy because:
1. They're not self conscious
2. They lack a sense of time pressure
3. They've no goals.
The bottom line is they are living from moment to moment, and the mind is not there to interfere in their bliss."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"You should take the approach that you are wrong. Your goal is to be less wrong."

— Elon Musk Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Focus on getting distribution first then build the best product second. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
This takes practice and changing one’s habits. I have found that it typically takes about eighteen months, which is how long it takes to change most habits. #principleoftheday (2/2) RayDalio [type:: tweet]
"In the long-run, prioritization beats efficiency."

–@JamesClear jspujji [type:: tweet]
"A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to create anything great."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
What it is. What it does. How it makes you feel. https://t.co/NiMieJCrqq JustCopyTips [type:: tweet]
"The overscheduled life is not worth living."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
I'm sorry to inform you but your startups product will be copied so get over it, say thank you for the validation, and keep executing. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
"If you need to memorize it, then you didn't understand it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"Tell your friends you’re a happy person. Then, you’ll be forced to conform to it. You’ll have a consistency bias. You have to live up to it. Your friends will expect you to be a happy person."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Elon Musk on remote work

May 31, 2022 https://t.co/gTw1Bdh18h TechEmails [type:: tweet]
💯 https://t.co/h25XV37hfF IAmSteveHarvey [type:: tweet]
Two good questions for your boss:

1/ What am I doing that is useless?

2/ What should I do that I’m not doing yet? DellAnnaLuca [type:: tweet]
"The less scheduled you are, the more creative you’re going to be."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The best startup founders focus on making one good decision per day. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Smartest people are found near high gross margin businesses. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
David Ogilvy wrote words that sold over $1,500,000,000 of advertising.

And he gave us 38 lessons on how to sell.

Here are the top 7 to use today🧵 https://t.co/3DnPy5XORA chrishlad [type:: tweet]
You learn how to do things by doing things. jspujji [type:: tweet]
I keep a long list of biz ideas that I've come up with over the years. In Jan, I decided to stop trying to find the “perfect” biz.

Instead, I’ll start a few!

If there is a big mkt, a clear value prop, I find the right people and I have an “unfair advantage” I will start it jspujji [type:: tweet]
@BasedBeff you cannot outaccelerate me sama [type:: tweet]
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein https://t.co/nhxsWAOm6q AlbertEinstein [type:: tweet]
"If they wrote it to make money, don't read it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
15 Powerful Visuals About Psychology & Life
1. https://t.co/zaLUEkaWts DeepFlowMDL [type:: tweet]
At an early stage company, 90%+ of employee effort goes toward building a better product and working with customers.

At very large companies, it's probably like 10-15%.

A primary objective for companies in the middle is to stave off this inevitable tide as long they can. jaltma [type:: tweet]
"The overscheduled life is not worth living."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"You don’t need mentors, you need action."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
All undervalued wide moat stocks according to Morningstar: https://t.co/KnUjYVrYwj QCompounding [type:: tweet]
Think less. Experiment more. https://t.co/tM2ahB4avs OzolinsJanis [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to assemble a team that truly enjoys working together building a product they truly believe needs to exist. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
A regular reminder I give entrepreneurs (and myself):
- Amazon only sold books for its first 3-4 years
- Facebook was only in colleges for its first 2 years
- Apples reboot had only the iPod for 6 years
The path to ubiquity starts with narrow focus. jspujji [type:: tweet]
"Value your time. It is all you have. It’s more important than your money. It’s more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The true constraint of any startups growth is not capital, ideas or even talent.

It’s the founders bandwidth to effectively make decisions. jspujji [type:: tweet]
15 Powerful Visuals About Psychology & Life
1. https://t.co/ljTaemSBQt DeepFlowMDL [type:: tweet]
57 sentences that will make you a better husband and father today: https://t.co/zQNSRSlZZK SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
Today I deleted Notion.

Why?
I realized I was spending more time trying to increase productivity and efficiency, instead of actually doing the things I was trying to make more efficient. tadaspetra [type:: tweet]
"99% of effort is wasted.

I say this because you should be very thoughtful and realize in most things (relationships, work, even in learning) what you’re trying to do is find the thing you can go all-in on to earn compound interest."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Parenting toddlers is exhausting.

“Terrible-Twos” and “Threenagers” are rightfully earned names.

7 essential priorities for parenting this emotional age: jbryanporter [type:: tweet]
1. Prioritize Healthy Emotional Outlets
Teach your kids to separate emotions from actions.

"It's okay to be angry, but it's not okay to hit."

"Jealousy is natural, but it's not okay to take."

Create space for them to express emotion in a healthy way. jbryanporter [type:: tweet]
1. Prioritize Expectations
Toddlers respond well to expectations.

Give a X-minute warning before a transition, like ending play time.

Letting them know bedtime is approaching.

Consistently give (only) 1 warning before a consequence.

This is a great way to care for them. jbryanporter [type:: tweet]
Brand Marketing:

$1m ARR: Makes Little Sense
$10m ARR: Ok Let’s Do Some
$100m ARR: Most of Marketing
$1B ARR: All of Marketing jasonlk [type:: tweet]
You only control the effort, not the results. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Ideally, someone other than you should be objectively measuring and reporting on your progress. #principleoftheday https://t.co/fjgi9Cogy1 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Founders who are doing well and those who are doing badly both underestimate the importance of growth rate. paulg [type:: tweet]
Almost every important mistake I've made in the past 15+ years has been due to lowering the hire bar

Directly or indirectly, it leads to chaos, slowdown, doubt, and confusing inputs jasonlk [type:: tweet]
I don't think about ROI, I think about ROE (Return on Effort).

When too much effort is spent on something small and inconsequential, it offends my sensibilities far more than too much money spent on something that wasn't worth it.

Here's what I mean:
https://t.co/EaaFG5T8SA jasonfried [type:: tweet]
When you push the mediocre, they quit

When you push the great ones, they step up

Tough to get just right jasonlk [type:: tweet]
@SaveYourSons Freedom. Family. Peace.

Not too much to ask for. IAmAaronWill [type:: tweet]
Complexity is always a killer of productivity. Every time we’ve reduced pricing and packaging options, we’ve grown faster; standardized on an internal process, we’ve moved faster; simplified our architecture, we’ve built faster. levie [type:: tweet]
It's like we're twins separated at birth (I'm Danny Devito).

I so, so, so believe in the power of simplifying. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Most marriages either fail or are miserable.

I’ve been with my wife for 13 years.

Here are 13 ways to THRIVE in your marriage. brettboettcher1 [type:: tweet]
"A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to create anything great."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Improve your communication, improve your life.

Communication =
• better relationships
• stronger leadership
• winning negotiations
• easier buy-in
• closing more sales

9 ways to become a better communicator today: wes_kao [type:: tweet]
I've found the most joy in learning by oscillating between periods of intense building followed by intense learning. It creates this beautiful feedback loop between the two where you get to put in practice what you learn while exploring before you build again. Suhail [type:: tweet]
What comes so easily to you, Doesn't necessarily come so easily to others.

Never commit the crime of underestimating your Strengths.

Exploit them instead.

To the HILT.

The whole fucking Time.

This is what will make you EXCEPTIONAL. Be_Un_Stoppable [type:: tweet]
Startups usually take a while (often a year or two) to figure out exactly what their business is. The biggest preventable cause of failure is spending too much money, by hiring too many people, during this period. paulg [type:: tweet]
Don't be like this prince.

Stop planning and just get the shit done. https://t.co/4M6lpVnpLR vponamariov [type:: tweet]
Every single thing in your product that creates friction limits adoption. Even the difference between requiring a user to click a button vs. see information on mouse over can be an order of magnitude more discoverability of a feature. levie [type:: tweet]
If you find yourself "overthinking" a lot, you have too little on your plate.

Take up more projects. You won't have time to overthink.

Also start meditating. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
"An abundance on money and time can kill even the best-intentioned product."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Normalize not feeling guilty for removing toxic people from your life - no matter who they are. If a person disregards your feelings, ignores your boundaries and "continues" to treat you in a harmful way, they need to go. Pammy_DS [type:: tweet]
PMF is not virality, it's high user retention with great compounding growth. Suhail [type:: tweet]
"If you can't decide, the answer is No."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"Every man is at war with himself, except a Buddha."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
For example, I've noticed that the founders of successful startups tend to become much more commanding. You can start out as a diffident hacker, but you can't run a big company as one. Gates and Jobs are the rule, not the exception. paulg [type:: tweet]
Common theme I've noticed amongst successful founders:

They're OBSESSED with cancellations.

Every time a customer leaves it hurts them on a personal level. JohnIsBuilding [type:: tweet]
Talked to a great founder that was "beating one of your portfolio companies in every deal"

It was possible, he's growing 3x right now at $3m in ARR

The thing is, that means he's adding $6m in bookings

The bigger competitor will add $60m this year jasonlk [type:: tweet]
When you interview for a VP of Sales, don't ask them how they do sales

They are all really, really good at talking about process

Ask them how they will get you more customers

Most won't have a good answer jasonlk [type:: tweet]
A new mental model I'm discovering:

When someone is pushing for you to be "reasonable," but can't identify what exactly it is that is unreasonable, often times that means they would personally be more comfortable if you were to remain mediocre. Austen [type:: tweet]
Skills that help you become successful are rarely the skills you need to stay successful. More often that not, the skills you need to stay successful are the exact opposite of the skills that helped you get there in the first place. heykahn [type:: tweet]
Wealth is a good example. Concentration usually helps you build it, but diversification helps you preserve it. If you stay concentrated for too long, you're bound to lose it sooner or later. heykahn [type:: tweet]
"Develop 'strategic incompetence' - people won't ask you to do things you hate to do, if you're bad at them." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
@kpooya They made something people want. paulg [type:: tweet]
try a lot of things and do more of what works

work on things that are interesting but not prestigious

follow the path as it unfolds sama [type:: tweet]
One of the most striking patterns I've noticed among the biggest YC cos is how consistently they still do YCish stuff internally, e.g. when launching new things. Being a startup is not just a phase companies go through. It can also be part of their culture ongoing. paulg [type:: tweet]
i am still amazed how most startup investors are great at understanding that startups can grow exponentially but don’t understand that markets can too

“the TAM is too small” has cost startup investors more money than any other often-repeated phrase i know of sama [type:: tweet]
(“the founder is too inexperienced” is a close second and “what’s the barrier to entry?” is a close third) sama [type:: tweet]
"Find a relationship where you, naturally being you, makes the other person happy. And the other person, naturally being the other person, makes you happy."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Fail, then learn.

Act, then ask.

Move, then steer.

A tank full of gas, directions on the map, and hands on the wheel is nothing but wishful thinking if your foot is off the pedal. thedankoe [type:: tweet]
Don't minimize costs - maximize revenues. naval [type:: tweet]
"10,000 iterations, not 10,000 hours"

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you think people have scar tissue, you should see organizations. Each time there's a disaster, they create a process to prevent future disasters of that type. Eventually they accrete a thick layer of these processes that prevents them from moving. Then they die. paulg [type:: tweet]
Reading is only useful if you have enough experience to think critically.

Failing is only useful if you did your best to not fail.

Discussing is only useful if you are ready to change your mind.

Working hard is only useful if you are in the right direction. orangebook [type:: tweet]
Intuition never lies, it knows when something is off. Trust what it tells you about the energy and signs you get from people and places. Pammy_DS [type:: tweet]
Just focus on finding 10 paying customers that couldn't live without your startup's product then go from there. Nail it then scale it. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
The older I get, the more I realize self-confidence makes all the difference. thejustinwelsh [type:: tweet]
The #1 mistake I see founders make when they hire their first VP of Sales …

Is that the founder stops doing much sales themselves.

It doesn’t work that way. Sales almost always goes down as a result. Oftentimes, dramatically so. jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"Some of the most creative and productive people I have ever met work in multi-week bursts and then have weeks where they just idle with little done. It’s the nature of the human animal."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The people that don't show up at the office will end up working for the people that do. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
It feels very simple and light but still useful. Like a good tool. There is no drama or complex ideas. Just the things we need. I don't feel constrained by it but feel like it speeds me up.

Like it should be but seems there is this tendency to complicate things uncessarily karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
"The purpose of wealth is freedom."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
1/ Using AI to generate fashion

After a bunch of experimentation I finally got DALL-E to work for video by combining it with a few other AI tools

See below for my workflow -

#dalle2 #dalle #AIart #ArtificialIntelligence #digitalfashion #virtualfashion https://t.co/x3zP3fIp4G karenxcheng [type:: tweet]
"You have to pick something big to work on, because it's hard to commit your life to something small."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
It doesn’t matter what you eat; if you eat too much (volume) of food, you’ll be tired. It’s called blood flow diversion. Eat to 85% full and you’ll avoid this source of fatigue. #science hubermanlab [type:: tweet]
What I used to consider wealthy:
• Mansion
• Fast car
• Fancy watch
• Expensive suits

What I now consider wealthy:
• Abundance of freedom
• Deep connection with family and friends
• Physical vitality
• Mental fortitude

Find your definition of wealth—then prioritize it. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
"The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Product designers—particularly software designers—seem far more interested with adding features than they are with preventing frustration. kocienda [type:: tweet]
Amen. DanielPink [type:: tweet]
How to ask for feedback:

What should I stop doing?
What should I start doing?
What should I continue doing? shl [type:: tweet]
"Build it as if you are going to own it forever. The exit is the Investor's problem."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Fixed goals equal static products and ultimately failed businesses. OKRs encourage agility both in your product and business. Here's how. https://t.co/zg3ZZHKcMz jboogie [type:: tweet]
"Imagine how effective you would be if you weren’t anxious all the time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
7 bad habits that sabotage your brain health: FitFounder [type:: tweet]
"Life is compound interest."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The best way, perhaps the only way, to change others is to become an example." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
"The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/xXlaNdAqdu SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
"If you’re more passionate about founding a business than the business itself, you can fall into a ten year trap. Better to stay emotionally unattached and select the best opportunity that arises." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
"Persistence beats timing. Execution beats luck. Not immediately, but eventually."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Slack started as a video game.

YouTube started as a dating site.

Twitter started as a podcast finder.

@microacquire started as marketplace to acquire SaaS startups.

Shopify started as eCommerce store.

Pinterest started as m-commerce app.

Lesson: listen to your customers. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
The best startups just get shit done.

Is it the best? Not always.

Is it the fastest? Absolutely.

How do they learn? The market.

Who helps them improve? Customers.

Speed of execution wins. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Obs from working with 200 companies: 20% of features drive 80% of willingness to pay (wtp). This 20% is also the easiest to build typically. Hence companies release this 20% as MVP for low price/free and give the farm away & struggle to build 80% which drives 20% wtp @lennysan MadhavanSF [type:: tweet]
Don't be afraid to create opinionated software.

That's kind of the point. It's what people are paying for.

Most business applications are fancy Excel spreadsheets with opinions. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
"Be so big that it’s cool to hate you."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The nice thing about free users, is that so long as they're active, they remain possible to convert later, when you're better at it.

If they also don't stay active, that's your primary challenge. If you don't solve that, it's really a free trial, not freemium. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@patrick_oshag https://t.co/LSlN38IPZ9 jaredkrouss [type:: tweet]
@patrick_oshag Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst https://t.co/wJAKof2X9G manjipal [type:: tweet]
Just a quick reminder. Whenever somebody gives you a feature to ship, consider saying something like…

“That sounds great. Can you tell me a little more about the problem this is intending to solve, who it solves it for and what other solutions you've considered?” andybudd [type:: tweet]
I don’t want a lot of user interface in my apps. The best software gets out of the way. kocienda [type:: tweet]
I don’t want much whimsy in my software either, since I don’t want apps that call attention to themselves. The more frequently I use a feature, the less likely I want anything about it to be whimsical. kocienda [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to be close to customers and one way to do this is handling support so you truly understand what pain points to solve. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Here’s what we’d recommend based on the data submitted by founders who sold businesses on @microacquire in the last six months.
- SaaS: 2-5x revenue or 4-7x profit
- Ecommerce: 1-2x revenue or 3-5x profit
- Marketplace: 1-3x revenue
- Agency: 1x revenue or 2-3x profit agazdecki [type:: tweet]
"Inspiration is perishable - act on it immediately."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to give other leaders autonomy to fully own parts of the business and give them everything they need to succeed. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
If you're not sure which supplements work (and which ones don't), here's a cool graphic I found recently that might help: https://t.co/WlM5uEqKJF heykahn [type:: tweet]
Exercise can affect your unborn children's genes by altering the chemistry of DNA in sperm and egg cells.

Aerobic exercise for 3 months altered sperm DNA by silencing genes linked to the risk of autism, OCD, Alzheimer’s, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis. foundmyfitness [type:: tweet]
"Picking the right direction to go in is way more important than how hard you work."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The most powerful life hacks I’ve found: SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Entrepreneurs are just built different and put in late hours, weekends, whatever it takes to get a startup off the ground. For the love of building. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Most new managers suck at managing.

You're suddenly responsible for leading a team and you have no idea how to do it.

I've served as a manager and executive at several companies.

Here's a step by step cheatsheet to help you become a better leader today: heykahn [type:: tweet]
Definitely. If you have to ask, you’re not there. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
When was the last time you watched someone try to sign up for your product? Or use your software? Or interact with your Support? Where you just sit there and watch -- no questions?

You might be surprised if you do... maybe that's why you're not... you're afraid maybe. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
How to build a successful startup:
1. Look at large markets
2. Find top companies
3. Study them. Find weaknesses
4. Serve most underserved customer
5. Message and position to narrow ICP
6. Bootstrap the company
7. Sell it on @microacquire
Not easy but I see this daily. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
More accountability isn't always better. In fact, the better an organization is, the more measuring their performance decreases it. paulg [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to always help your team think bigger, remove blockers, execute with speed, and keep momentum high. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
think with a very long time horizon, act with great short-term urgency and effectiveness, success guaranteed sama [type:: tweet]
Rich Barton (@Rich_Barton) on how to name a company https://t.co/eguVZLdsIE patrick_oshag [type:: tweet]
Please build a startup that is great at solving 1 painful problem rather than solving 100+ problems just okay. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Do not use your energy to worry. Use your energy to believe, to create, to learn, to think and to grow. ProfFeynman [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/wvjNaRhaMS ycombinator [type:: tweet]
"Observe when you’re angry—anger is a loss of control over the situation."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
A Simple Roadmap To Get Wealthy:
- Find a niche
- Identify low-competition keywords
- Write good content
- Scale it to 5 figures a month
- Sell it for $1M on @FEIntl
- Rinse & Repeat ThomasSmale [type:: tweet]
📆 Want to make #GoogleCalendar or #AppleCalendar a whole lot easier to manage?

Say "YES" to TimeCamp integration ✅😉

It automatically syncs your tasks with the calendars you select, providing a visualization graph, and automating your reports.

#workload #projectmanagement timecamp [type:: tweet]
the difference between a great person and a median person is that they’re in contact with divinity like 2% of the time vs 0.01% tszzl [type:: tweet]
In case you needed this: more hours worked does not always mean more things done!

Tomorrow is another day to continue from where you stopped today.

You got this! 💪

#wednesdaywisdom #productivity #procrastination timecamp [type:: tweet]
📥Import and export your #calendar events as time entries directly to your #timesheet in one go ✅ by pairing TimeCamp with Google Calendar or iCal.

✍️Assign each event to a specific project, using that event’s name as a keyword in the project.

Enjoy easy activity tracking!💚 timecamp [type:: tweet]
These 10 rules will change your life today… (I guarantee it): matt_gray_ [type:: tweet]
Until you are clearly #1,

Your homepage should plainly list the 3 things you do better than the competition jasonlk [type:: tweet]
What's the best movie for entrepreneurs? heyeaslo [type:: tweet]
@heyeaslo Pirates of Silicon Valley https://t.co/lWnFuTpU00 knowcodepro [type:: tweet]
Give me 2 minutes, and I’ll teach you 6 rules to be charismatic: SystemSunday [type:: tweet]
1. Don’t Complain or Gossip. Ever.
Nobody likes to hear complaining.

So why do we do it ourselves?

(Respectfully standing up for yourself is different.)

Separately, when you talk bad about others,

people wonder if you talk bad about them too.

Just don’t do it. SystemSunday [type:: tweet]
Leadership principles I know at 33, I wish I had known at 21: matt_gray_ [type:: tweet]
No Agenda, No Meeting

Time is your most valuable resource.

Hours are wasted in meetings that could be emails.

When you have meetings, make every minute count by having a clear agenda:

• What do we want to achieve?
• How are we going to get there?
• What's our timeline? matt_gray_ [type:: tweet]
PM is not the CEO of the Product. But it doesn't stop there.

She should not even dictate WHAT needs to be built.

Let me explain. In most companies, it goes like this: 🧵

#productmanagement #prodmgmt PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
I asked my paid newsletter subscribers what book most helped them become a better product manager.

Here are the top 10 most mentioned books (in order):
1. Inspired by Marty Cargan by @cagan
2. The Mom Test by @robfitz
3. Continuous Discovery Habits by @ttorres lennysan [type:: tweet]
@heyeaslo 1. Wecrash - Great story on the rise and fall of Adam Neuman. The energy is just infectious
2. Superpumped - How Travis created Uber and went off-limits
3. Social Network - No words here
4. Founder - How to reinvent the business model
5. Pursuit of Happyness - Sheer perseverance mani5hprasad [type:: tweet]
UI/UX design tips: Input field size guides for Android UI.
Although these guides are not fixed, they can be changed with the proper use of a grid system and font.

Thread..
(Cc it's.dezinxIG) https://t.co/kftrkoTNLf creativestefan [type:: tweet]
And then you have a second problem: all the unnecessary people you've hired become a drag on the necessary ones. The unproductive people need to seem like they're achieving something, so they'll organize meetings to waste the time of the productive ones. paulg [type:: tweet]
Too busy to hit the gym? Do a microworkout.

Microworkouts are short sessions that improve your fitness while boosting your metabolism.

Here are 16 microworkouts you can do anywhere: FitFounder [type:: tweet]
To get from A to Z, decide when B and Z are.

Without Z, there's no vision, it's a random walk, no reason to believe it will end well.

Without B, it's wishful thinking with no clear way to make progress. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Very much hope these luddites suing GitHub over CoPilot lose badly. maccaw [type:: tweet]
Maybe the difference between a 10x engineer and a 1x is that the 1x decided to build a CI system / Kubernetes deployment system over a month and the 10x engineer copy-pasted them into 8 boxes in 5 minutes. Suhail [type:: tweet]
most of the world has lost the will to do big things--incredible alpha now in working on a big project.

most of the world has also lost the ability to think on a long time horizon.

combine the two and you'll be really happy! sama [type:: tweet]
100% remote tends to be soulless https://t.co/gglPo220Ue TrevMcKendrick [type:: tweet]
Competitors can’t copy your startup’s speed, culture, execution, vision, story, team so just focus on those things. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
In 2004 doctors told me:

"We found several chronic diseases in your body. And if you don't take this treatment, you'll die"

I said "no thanks" and spent 5 years + $1.5 million of my own time and money to find a natural solution.

The result? I'm alive

Here's the wild story: IanActivated [type:: tweet]
Us from Mars
Credit: NASA https://t.co/vx9mQk08NL konstructivizm [type:: tweet]
A famous psychologist can predict divorce with 91% accuracy.

A-list celebs and billionaires go to him with their relationship challenges.

Here’s the most destructive pattern he identified (and how to protect against it): mattschnuck [type:: tweet]
Build a Google-like search for your data in 30 mins.

Large Language Models have completely changed the search landscape making semantic search accessible and affordable for all.

(A thread) 🧵👇 Saboo_Shubham_ [type:: tweet]
20 lessons every father must teach his daughter: https://t.co/GGeEAA0sL1 CliftonSellers [type:: tweet]
"Creativity starts with an empty calendar and ends with a full one."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Speed of execution and decision making is the biggest advantage startups have over larger companies. Plain and simple. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
What is body composition?

Body composition shows the % of fat & muscle in your body.

Healthy male range: 8%-17% bodyfat
Healthy female range: 16%-25% body fat

Now we know what body composition & why it's so important.

Here's how to change your body composition: TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
22 lessons every parent must teach their children:
1. You need to teach your children that they aren't the victim.
2. You need to teach your children that hard work will always beat talent. CliftonSellers [type:: tweet]
@MasterTimBlais DNA is a 4 bit self modifying program that has been executing and forking nonstop for 3,500,000,000 years with such efficiency that the code to make a human species fits on a small thumb drive. It is so relentless that it covers every available niche on Earth. oren_ai [type:: tweet]
Lock yourself in a room and read those 12 books on PM

(you'll thank me later; Nov 2022): 🧵

#productmanagement #prodmgmt PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
If you love meetings and power point presentations join a large company.

If you love getting shit done and your job changing frequently join a startup. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
What’s 1 thing every father should teach his son? SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
Pick one thing from your long to-do list that you really can just scratch off and never do, and delete it.

(If it's truly important, it will reappear, don't worry.) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Just hit our biggest day ever in terms of clicks, and getting close to 1M impressions/day 😳 https://t.co/p0GqufATEp thepatwalls [type:: tweet]
Matt Mochary has been CEO coach to @naval, the founders of OpenAI, Notion, Rippling, Robinhood, Coinbase, Reddit, Plaid, Flexport, Opendoor, partners at Sequoia, YC, Benchmark, and many others.

He also open-sourced his entire curriculum, templates and all. Here's a link 👇 https://t.co/6xPI6RIpWp lennysan [type:: tweet]
- No meetings before 11am.
- No meetings when emails or calls will do.
- Don’t schedule calls, text coordinate them on the fly when possible.
  -Cram all meetings into two days a week.
- 1-on-1s are usually 30-minute walking meetings.
  (Meetings are the death of productivity)
  @naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The faster you ship.

The faster you learn.

The faster you iterate.

The faster you find product market fit.

The faster your startup grows.

It ain’t easy but also not complicated. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Without speed of execution most startups just wouldn't exist, pretty simple. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Even if things are challenging, make sure you thoughtfully review everyone's comp at year end

Overpaying doesn't seem to buy you any goodwill

But underpaying, boy, it festers

Fix it jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"I'm about 2x more productive when I avoid wheat, alcohol, and meetings."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The following example starts with centre aligned text, then changes to left alignment for the other elements.

The mixture of alignments adds unnecessary complexity, resulting in slightly increased cognitive load and a less tidy interface. https://t.co/tFLebnha9b AdhamDannaway [type:: tweet]
AI - HUMAN collaboration will skyrocket across all professions.

It’s best summed up by an idea that LinkedIn Founder @reidhoffman recently shared with me: “In the next 5 years, every profession will have an AI co-pilot.”

Thread. PeterDiamandis [type:: tweet]
What is retirement?

“When you stop sacrificing today for tomorrow. When today is complete, in and of itself, you’re retired” - @naval ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
What seems to be going on with the Twitter product lately is too much Project Thinking and too little Product Thinking https://t.co/zndbutItaB shreyas [type:: tweet]
A new exciting journey begins - OpenWidget is live 🎉✨ We are starting with simple tools for building better relations in an e-commerce world, but we won't stop there (more use cases soon!) Check our PH campaign https://t.co/wVI48ARFXQ https://t.co/J7kwveE6SM MJawinski [type:: tweet]
@LeaVerou YC has funded lots of founders with kids.

I would ordinarily just ignore this sort of random trolling, but I wouldn't want potential founders to be discouraged by it. It's harder to start a startup with kids, especially very young ones, but it's still possible. paulg [type:: tweet]
At $1M monthly revenue I didn't know how we'd do $2M.

By $5M it was clear how we could get to $10M.

Here's what I've learned about scaling a startup: bbourque [type:: tweet]
1. There are only a few marketing strategies that scale:
- paid acquisition
- organic
- product-led growth
Most products don't sell themselves.

A single big channel can make your business.

Defend it with additional channels in parallel. bbourque [type:: tweet]
How headcount explodes in a startup:

You do a critical task. It takes 1/8 of your time, and is easy and cheap to hire for. So you hire someone to do the task.

That person does that task well. Great hire! Austen [type:: tweet]
In fact that person is so smart and resourceful that they start doing two other tasks that, while not critical, are great. What an awesome hire!

Add those two great things to the list of things we do! Austen [type:: tweet]
Except unknowingly, you just went from one task that takes 1/8 of a person’s time to three tasks that are a full-time job plus 1/8 of a person to manage them.

And you can’t eliminate that role, that person does three important tasks!

Now compound. Austen [type:: tweet]
How can you combat this natural force?

The only ways I’ve seen:
1. Have extreme focus and clarity, saying no to many great things that are nice (and can be done with excess bandwidth).
2. Have people be willing to do tasks that feel “below” their level. Austen [type:: tweet]
I love to read autobiographies of people who started iconic companies. I was fortunate to work for Zuck and Bezos as their origin stories were still being written, and it's fun to pattern match against other founders. Here’s a list of some of my favorite business biographies: DanRose999 [type:: tweet]
A really, really rough rule in SaaS is you need a second product firmly in place by 10,000 customers, or $100m ARR, whichever comes first

That probably means launching it by the time you have 5,000 customers

If your ACV is low, that could be as early as $10m ARR jasonlk [type:: tweet]
I've been an entrepreneur for 7.5 years.

These rules-of-thumb would've saved me 5 years of time and millions of dollars.

7 business laws to ignore at your own risk: barrettjoneill [type:: tweet]
A couple tracked the impact of their choices + behaviours on sleep quality for 2.5 years.

Below were the ones that had the most impact: https://t.co/mztmFofRfr FitFounder [type:: tweet]
When your startup tries to serve everyone you end up serving no one. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
It’s not 10,000 hours, it’s 10,000 iterations. naval [type:: tweet]
Great stories tell hard truths. naval [type:: tweet]
Good Morning Everyone! Is inflation cancelled? Container shipping costs are back to pre-pandemic levels. https://t.co/IBWxzyNClg GRDecter [type:: tweet]
Overthinking everything kills so many startups so please ship your product. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Most founders don’t realize they have multiple corp tax requirements each year. To get access to tax credits (up to $500k/yr) & avoid penalties, filing on time is a must.

At @tryfondo we've helped 1,000+ founders with this.

The most important tax deadlines you can't ignore 👇 davj [type:: tweet]
Learn through experience.

Teach through storytelling. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
So far, the only startups I’ve lost money investing in had one thing in common: they had high churn in the early days

Some fought through it

But a lot never do jasonlk [type:: tweet]
A good rule for life: Always give people a second chance, but never give them a third. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
In technology, never outsource the thing that benefits your customers the most. You should own it and relentlessly make it better. Nobody should know it better than you. Suhail [type:: tweet]
If your operating cadence is quarterly your company will ship 4 things per year.

If your operating cadence is monthly you’ll ship 12.

Biweekly you’ll ship 100.

Weekly you’ll ship 50.

Daily you’ll ship 260. Austen [type:: tweet]
@elonmusk Good health
Time in nature
Peace and stability
Clean water, good air
A dutiful wife that cooks well
Meaningful work you like doing
Strong children you spend time with LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
Making people laugh and smile with your startups marketing is powerful. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
If you always feel tired read this: FitFounder [type:: tweet]
In the long-run, prioritization beats efficiency. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Why I want you to have your own principles: (1/7) https://t.co/MS8kNNLpNp RayDalio [type:: tweet]
"You get rewarded for unique knowledge, not for effort.

Effort is required to create unique knowledge."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Meditation is intermittent fasting for the mind.
Too much sugar leads to a heavy body & too many distractions lead to a heavy mind.
Time spent undistracted & alone, in self-examination, journaling, meditation, resolves the unresolved and takes us from mentally fat to fit.
@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Charlie Munger is a modern-day polymath and one of the most respected investors of all time.

He credits reading 500 pages/day with much of his success—his children even call him a book with legs.

Here are 20 of his favourite books: _alexbrogan [type:: tweet]
Beware of perfectionism.

Churchill said another way to spell “perfectionism” is P-A-R-A-L-Y-S-I-S.

It’s good to have high standards but all virtues become vices if taken too far. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Code is the biggest lever humanity has ever invented. Yet it’s still constrained by how fast you can learn and type. Imagine how the world changes when these bottlenecks are solved. amasad [type:: tweet]
"Looking back, the best outcomes came from pure actions, without motive."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you want to lose fat:
- Eat less food (no oil, no sugar)
- Strength train 3-4x per week (this preserves muscle mass)
- 20 minutes of cardio every day
- 10k-15k steps (use your smartphone/watch to track)
It's that simple. You should drop 2-4kg per month. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
"We confuse equal opportunity & equal outcome. Equal opportunity is a noble goal. Free people make different choices & have unequal outcomes."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"I’m trying to get rid of is the word 'should.' Whenever the word 'should' creeps up in your mind, it’s guilt or social programming. Doing something because you 'should' basically means you don’t actually want to do it. It’s just making you miserable."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
@bgabraga @scottintheworld So many ways! I would start by just learning first - Backlinko and Authority Hacker are good places to start. But focus on creating good content above all else. Some links will come and others you can generate with a little hustle. NicheRanger [type:: tweet]
Startup founders who are great at sales and marketing will win the next decade because building the best product simply isn't enough anymore. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
If you write your principles down:
1. You will think more deeply about them
If you pause to think about your principles for dealing with the situations you are encountering, you will think much more deeply about them, which will make them better. (1/6) https://t.co/Pp2dybW5I8 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Start VPs of Sales lead from the front:
- They are in all the big deals
- They know every deal
- They backup the team
BiggerCo VPs of Sales lead from behind:
- They monitor dashboards
- They tell team to sell more
- They meet some customers in the EBC jasonlk [type:: tweet]
At least once a day, I see a startup’s website and think, “I have no idea what this company does.” Don't think I'm alone here.

Here's how to develop early & growth stage homepage copy that actually explains your product and drives your audience to convert: emilykramer [type:: tweet]
A good design is one that allows the user to accomplish their goal efficiently and effortlessly. DenisJeliazkov [type:: tweet]
"It’s becoming easier and easier to be social, but exceptional people are built in solitude."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Ghee > Vegetable oil

Unless you can't afford ghee, there is no reason to cook in vegetable oil.

You want to live long and be strong right? Eat ghee. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
It doesn’t matter how great your startup's product is unless you can actually convince people to purchase it so please learn sales, its 90% of the job. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Here's some books I recommend...
1. To sell is human
2. Sales acceleration formula
3. Predictable revenue
4. The challenger sale
5. Sell the way you buy
Then cold calling potential customers.

Experience is always the best teacher. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
The two-minute rule specifies that you have to give someone an uninterrupted two minutes to explain their thinking before jumping in with your own. #principleoftheday (1/2) https://t.co/h3s9VzlACR RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Winners tend to underestimate the role of luck in outcomes, and losers to overestimate it. So all other things being equal, someone who is always talking about luck is probably a loser. paulg [type:: tweet]
"Being unhappy is very inefficient."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The fundamental delusion - there is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Marketing isn’t about tricking people into buying your product…

It’s about offering a solution to an already existing problem. DenisJeliazkov [type:: tweet]
"If you have two choices to make, and they’re relatively equal choices, take the path more difficult and more painful in the short term."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Create a basic landing page, start talking to customers, understand their problems, build a simple solution for it, and just like that you have a startup. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
"Some of the most creative and productive people I have ever met work in multi-week bursts and then have weeks where they just idle with little done. It’s the nature of the human animal."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Friendly reminder your job as CEO of a startup is to recruit a team of generalists to build and then recruit a team of specialists to scale. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
"I, and I alone, am responsible for everything I think and feel."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The measure of wisdom is how calm you are when facing any given situation."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
What AI Twitter forgets is that 99.9999% of the world doesn’t know what a GPT-4 is, never will, and doesn’t care.

They want to get a promotion.
Or get home to their family early.
Or find someone to marry.

Use AI to help become the hero in their life and they will love you. DaveRogenmoser [type:: tweet]
"Value your time. It is all you have. It’s more important than your money. It’s more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
New wave of startups coming. Their stack:
- landing page
- form input + stripe button
- ChatGPT api
- output displayed/emailed
Who can make money the quickest?! bentossell [type:: tweet]
Positioning over predicting.

Put yourself in a position that allows you to prosper no matter the circumstances and you can always play offense.

— Peter Kaufman shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Every startup needs to have an unfair advantage in their market and it doesn't always have to be product. It can be...
- Brand
- Design
- Marketing
- Distribution
- Support
- Dark mode
- Team
- Culture
- Pricing
The list is endless. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
AI is doing 80% of my coding – the future looks brighter than ever! 🤩 https://t.co/h6kTCdPnSf dannypostmaa [type:: tweet]
I’m sorry, I simply cannot be cynical about a technology that can accomplish this. https://t.co/yjlY72eZ0m tqbf [type:: tweet]
"You don’t need mentors, you need action."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The striking thing about the reaction to ChatGPT is not just the number of people who are blown away by it, but who they are. These are not people who get excited by every shiny new thing. Clearly something big is happening. paulg [type:: tweet]
@paulg The greatest part of ChatGPT right now is the creativity of humans in the questions they ask.

The second greatest part is the unbelievable responses this AI is generating. 🤯 bockius [type:: tweet]
Your main job as a startup founder or employee right now is to figure out how to get OpenAI to do 90% of your work for you and still get paid. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Infinite Tools.

My biggest regret is not understanding this earlier: https://t.co/XADrHTfr3V george__mack [type:: tweet]
@dagorenouf It gets good after year 3-4. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Fast talkers are people who articulately and assertively say things faster than they can be assessed as a way of pushing their agenda past other people's examination or objections. #principleoftheday (1/3) https://t.co/SwBIjzX83v RayDalio [type:: tweet]
How educator Alycia Zimmerman used her students’ favorite plastic blocks to help them learn math skills

[read more: https://t.co/853bkBgnFV] https://t.co/k5bCaJ1eIz Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
90% of good UX is removing things until it’s as simple as can be…

Sometimes less is really more. DenisJeliazkov [type:: tweet]
@waitbutwhy Related advice for founders:

If you're making something for young people, assume they're willing to spend time but not money.

Rich people love things that save them time, and hate things that waste their time. paulg [type:: tweet]
Together, these fives steps make up an evolutionary loop. Let’s look at this process more granularly. First you have to pick what you are going after–your goals. You choice of goals will determine your direction. As you move toward your goals, you will encounter problems. (1/5) https://t.co/MzTgRHcOio RayDalio [type:: tweet]
3 rules to express your thoughts so everyone understands:
1. Make no more than three points.
2. Explain difficult ideas in three different ways.
3. Make important points three times.
(via @alanalda)

https://t.co/ZN5BtCxL63 DanielPink [type:: tweet]
AI has officially replaced CEOs. https://t.co/Om0n6jowHt levie [type:: tweet]
As you get wealthier, focus on upgrading your mind, not on upgrading your lifestyle. orangebook [type:: tweet]
If you are a perfectionist, be a perfectionist about learning from your mistakes. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
How to 3x your reading speed in 7 days: SystemSunday [type:: tweet]
It's much easier to sell a $1000 product 1,000 times than it is to sell a $10 product 100,000 times.

You are not Amazon and don't have ultra wide distribution.

Unless you hate money, create a high value product you can sell at a high price point. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
The true potential of AI is to augment human intelligence -- to serve as our interface to an increasingly complex, connected, and information-intensive world.

Imagine having a conversation with Wikipedia. Or a brainstorming session with arXiv. fchollet [type:: tweet]
Your main job as a startup founder is to put in the work and find paying customers yourself in the beginning. Please stop making excuses. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Earth at night viewed from space. https://t.co/UGRVGQvcVi wonderofscience [type:: tweet]
A positive mindset doesn't ensure success, but a negative one ensures defeat. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
I want to help you discover good principles that suit you and write them down. While that might sound like a lot or like you have a lot to do to develop great principles, that’s not true at all. All you need to do is start journaling and see what comes from it. (1/2) https://t.co/F4ev6KPUf1 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
"A friendship based on business is superior to a business based on friendship."
- John D Rockefeller LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
"You will get rich by giving society what it wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Inspiration for you:

The biggest businesses I've ever sold started as someone’s side hustle.

Start your side hustle to change your life. ThomasSmale [type:: tweet]
My office at this moment. The papers on the desk are notes for a new essay. After dropping 10 yo off at school, I go for a walk and think about what to write next. I bring a piece of paper to scribble down notes that I never read, and probably couldn't. https://t.co/RGkpjY5Vkj paulg [type:: tweet]
"Everyone Must Talk to Customers" https://t.co/hJqVCmneIc @jboogie https://t.co/hQNcKonDGA AgeOfProduct [type:: tweet]
"Guard your time. Forget the money."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
@jasonlk Hire great CSM team. Survey 1-2x/year and for sure 6 months prior to renewal. Ask NPS question. Ask renewal intent question. Monitor usage. Monitor escalations. Monitor executive changes and do immediately relationship rebuild when they happen. Watch for sponsor changes. Kellblog [type:: tweet]
"private keys will never catch on", skeptics say as apple releases end-to-end encryption for iCloud in iOS 16.2 that prompts you to safeguard your own 28-character recovery key 0xfoobar [type:: tweet]
2019 when we got started with Linear, most SaaS websites at the time seemed to be these "Corporate Memphis" sites with vague benefit statements and weird colorful illustrations. No screenshots of the product and dark sites were very rare in B2B SaaS. https://t.co/VRP3vvdctj karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
Design wise, we really wanted to talk people like us and who to build things well. Dark mode and dark website for was that we are not part of the "Corporate Memphis" and we care about crafting a product that works and fits needs.

Some of our early "specs" for Linear interface https://t.co/KozFvUB6P4 karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
"All benefits in life come from compound interest, whether in money, relationships, love, health, activities, or habits. I only want to be around people I know I’m going to be around for the rest of my life. I only want to work on things I know have long-term payout."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
My Annual Review:

(1) What did I change my mind on?
(2) What created energy?
(3) What drained energy?
(4) What were the boat anchors?
(5) What did I not do because of fear?
(6) What were my greatest hits/misses?
(7) What did I learn?

Follow me @SahilBloom for more in 2023. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
I want to help you discover good principles that suit you and write them down. While that might sound like a lot or like you have a lot to do to develop great principles, that’s not true at all. All you need to do is start journaling and see what comes from it. (1/2) https://t.co/DjPXZCvxKw RayDalio [type:: tweet]
With people you care about, tell them the truth.

With people you don't, tell them what they want to hear. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
A lot of people ask me for help deciding on a niche for their site. I always tell them their primary passion is the best answer.

But I like data too.

So look at what's already proven outside of a website.
1. Every sizable sub-Reddit is a $10k+/mo website.
2. be continued: scottintheworld [type:: tweet]
What was the best book you read in 2022 and the main lesson you took from it? shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Focus your startup on solving one painful problem really well, not 100. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
67% of startups fail due to co-founder dynamics.

5 crucial cofounder conversations (that also protect against a divorce): mattschnuck [type:: tweet]
@ShaneAParrish The book you wish your parents had read. I’m convinced this is the only book any parent or caregiver needs to read. Main takeaway; All feelings are valid and the old way of do as I say is dead. https://t.co/ir51zqXTwK Chris_Lamont [type:: tweet]
@ShaneAParrish The Courage to be Disliked by Kishimi and Koga. Everything in your life is in your power to change, provided you have the courage to do so. https://t.co/ivTK6XA0kQ kkmurerwa [type:: tweet]
@WrongsToWrite Relationships determine quality of your life — choose wisely. mkalbeitzer1 [type:: tweet]
The goal of great design is to make complex tasks simple and easy to understand. DenisJeliazkov [type:: tweet]
Shit on @elonmusk all you want, but he has The Now Habit.

As soon as he has an idea, he takes action towards making it happen.

This is inherently chaotic, but for better or worse, it's likely a big part of why he's so successful.

Rapid action, iteration, and experimentation. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Everyone is repeating “outcomes over output.”

But there is no single definition of what outcomes are.

Let’s simplify this. There are three types of outcomes: PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
- Product teams should focus on product outcomes, which they can influence directly, and customer outcomes (especially for a new product) that drive those results. PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." — Socrates RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Don’t think. Don’t overanalyze. Do the work. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Jeff Bezos said:

“There is no way to write a six-page narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking.”

Here’s the writing framework Bezos uses (that you can too): nathanbaugh27 [type:: tweet]
@GerberKawasaki Please tell us your great ideas, Ross … elonmusk [type:: tweet]
The highest roi on any dollar spent is a house cleaner. barrettjoneill [type:: tweet]
Kroczek po kroczku. https://t.co/1oNLW0Wljx sadek [type:: tweet]
I lost my grandmother in 2017.

For a while, I thought of her every day.

Then, once a week, then once a month.

I didn't think of her at all this year, until her 5th death anniversary.

Stop living for other people's approval. Even the ones who love you forget you so fast. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
I’m working across 4 companies of varying sizes at the moment

Here are the most common causes of friction I see and how you can prevent them…. AmandaMGoetz [type:: tweet]
Clear strategic vision

With a clear understanding of where the company is headed (repeated over and over in every meeting), decisions can made at every level without the CEO in the room.

The teams have the destination and can figure out the best way to get there. AmandaMGoetz [type:: tweet]
Clear brand strategy and positioning

Without an understanding of you WHY - communicated and understood across every department - you will become a bag of features.

No one is buying features. AmandaMGoetz [type:: tweet]
Focus & Anti-Goals

It’s faster to do one thing with 100% attention than 10 things at 10% attention.

Creating clear goals and anti-goals (what are we consciously choosing to not pursue) will help clear the teams to move faster. AmandaMGoetz [type:: tweet]
Clear definition of success

We need to promote this app feature!

Why?
to ⬆️ DAUs?
to ⬆️ sales?
we believe increased usage will increase LTV?

For a hypothesis with quantitative measures of success and test.

No goal? No go. AmandaMGoetz [type:: tweet]
Clear DRIs

A DRI is the “directly responsible individual”

That person isn’t doing all the work but they are responsible for making sure it gets done.

So many meetings end with no one knowing who is clearly in charge of the project. AmandaMGoetz [type:: tweet]
"No success in the professional realm can compensate for failure in the home." - A wise friend.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
10 companies that hit massive scale with surprisingly small teams: nathanbarry [type:: tweet]
0/ Most first time founders screw up their board by optimizing for the wrong things. Having built multiple of my own (and screwed up) and having sat on dozens more, here are a few things to keep in mind 👇 martin_casado [type:: tweet]
Nothing you consume can go on your resume

Only things you create fortelabs [type:: tweet]
Happy holidays from the TimeCamp team!

Make each hour of this festive season count🎄💚

#MerryChristmas and #HappyNewYear https://t.co/g1OxUjhbyX timecamp [type:: tweet]
"Inspiration is perishable - act on it immediately."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Work Like a Lion

Parkinson's Law says that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

When you establish fixed hours to work, you'll find unproductive ways to fill it.

Work longer, get less done.

Work like a lion instead—wait, SPRINT, rest, repeat. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
"If you don’t have leverage, you’re never going to make real wealth."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"To measure the quality of your life, simply do nothing, and see how it feels."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Just in case someone was worried that $NOW was reporting renewal rates because they didn't have good net retention https://t.co/iDENeUYF8V shomikghosh21 [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to understand that you work for your team and not the other way around because without them you have nothing. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
#principleoftheday https://t.co/anB2On78OG RayDalio [type:: tweet]
A poem written by an 85 year old woman at the end of her life: https://t.co/ASwDFVibLf IAmAndrewKirby [type:: tweet]
Before you set goals, do this first: https://t.co/3AuiJkE8Fm chrishlad [type:: tweet]
@paulg https://t.co/i8vyO3zVTH your 10 yo would like this book. Written by the father of the former Alameda CEO. Amazingly 30 new Barnes and Nobles opening this year patsfan2333 [type:: tweet]
"The more seriously you take yourself, the unhappier you’re going to be."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Life is like a giant smorgasbord with more delicious alternatives than you can ever hope to taste. Choosing a goal often means rejecting some things you want in order to get other things that you want or need even more. #principleoftheday (1/3) https://t.co/cJT80qiDdm RayDalio [type:: tweet]
I watched every single Jeff Bezos interview.

He says the same word 100s of times.

And it’s the only obsession that matters: https://t.co/NBQjpUsxIE brandon [type:: tweet]
1. Walking is not a good exercise
Walking is one of the most underrated exercises on the planet.

It decreases stress, increases energy, improves creativity, & helps you burn calories.

When done in nature it is one of the best things you could do to your brain and body. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
What do 36 million people use now that eventually 5 billion will? paulg [type:: tweet]
Trying something new.

Since podcast episodes can be overlooked, or forgotten, I'm going to share 5 nuggets of wisdom from some favorite past episodes.

First up, my conversation with @ElenaVera on B2B growth strategy.

Here are five killer insights from Elena: lennysan [type:: tweet]
1/ Much of your growth strategy can be boiled down to a 3x3 matrix.

Your job is to pick the right growth motion (Product-led, Marketing-led, Sales-led) for each of your three main growth levers (Acquisition, Monetization, Retention). https://t.co/Rq1nKCBIup lennysan [type:: tweet]
If AI saves people from having to write, it will also save them from having the ideas that writing engenders. paulg [type:: tweet]
AI will not replace you. A person using AI will. svpino [type:: tweet]
1. Fix the lightbulb
And take out the trash. And unclog the toilet. And replace your air filters.

If little things around the house need to get done, do them. That's your job. Nobody's going to do it for you.

Take ownership of your surroundings. That's what a man does. SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
1. It's supposed to be hard
When you're doing something difficult and you want to quit, remind yourself:

"It's supposed to be hard. If it was easy, I wouldn't be getting better."

Becoming elite is never easy. If it was, that word would lose all meaning.

Seek difficulty daily SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
"Nothing taught by force stays in the soul." — Plato RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
@SystemSunday When i was in taiwan and working for a company there, everyone after eating lunch will sleep on their table for like 30 mins or so. I think it's quite common in china and Japan as well. VonRofX [type:: tweet]
In your opinion, what’s the main cause of unhappiness for men? SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
A Growth Hacking lesson from @calm

As @reforge alumni, I learned (the hard way) how important retention is for your business growth. Nobody knows this better than Calm, the meditation app.
Calm was able to boost its retention rate by following these steps: DPirciu [type:: tweet]
To the people who "can't lose weight":

Try getting on a 1000 calorie per day deficit.

It's literally impossible to not lose weight.

You are just eating too much. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
"Impatience with actions, patience with results."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"Get wealthy, get healthy, get happy."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Five steps to starting your PLG motion

Read on https://t.co/TPNhLqKcgm lennysan [type:: tweet]
If you’re not talking to customers a few times a week, you don’t understand your customers.

Applies to every position, no exceptions.

Not everyone has to understand the customer. But then they can’t be in charge of decisions which do require that information. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Break your shot into 6 sections.

You occupy the middle two.

Your job is now to fill the other four. https://t.co/ogUuihov9C theKevinShen [type:: tweet]
At Stripe we care about being meticulous in our craft. Sometimes that means putting effort into getting the small things right. Little details compound into end to end experiences that are surprisingly great.

We shipped 100s of tiny tweaks last year. Some of my favorites 🧵 dps [type:: tweet]
In your opinion, what's something every father should teach his son? SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
@SaveYourSons Middle of it right now. 😅 Basic mechanics. https://t.co/NEi9qM7qIa LightTemplar83 [type:: tweet]
@SaveYourSons Too many to list, but:
- Telling the truth even when it's hard
- Treating people with love and respect
- Excellence comes from hard work and reps
- There are lessons in failure
- Emotions are useful but should be secondary to logic
- Things worth having are hard to get SethStuck [type:: tweet]
"Don’t worry about remembering. Just try to understand important points. Write, ruminate, pace, do what it takes to understand. Don’t memorize."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
How much venture capital does it take to get to $145m ARR, growing 40%, with a $1.1 Billion market cap?

$300m? $200m? $150m?

Try $14m for Docebo

In a very crowded category, with a sales-driven motion, they got there on just $14m

5 Interesting Learnings: 🔽🔽🔽🔽🔽 jasonlk [type:: tweet]
People who don't understand startups sometimes try to claim that successful founders merely got lucky. If a startup required only a single decision, this could be true. But a startup involves thousands of decisions, most of which you have to get right. paulg [type:: tweet]
For heaven's sake don't bother directing your questions to people who aren't responsible or, worse still, throw your questions out there without directing them at all. #principleoftheday https://t.co/nzCNJceESJ RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Interesting idea: "A person’s choice of a spouse ... is much more revealing than anything they say or do in public."

https://t.co/LVrdfH3ueV paulg [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to have extreme concentration and focus only on top priorities because time is by far your most valuable asset. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Great CEOs are decision machines. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
“Space I can recover. Time, never.” — Napoleon Bonaparte RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Just because someone thinks something doesn't mean it's true. Be especially skeptical of statements that begin with "I think that I . . ." since most people can't accurately assess themselves. #principleoftheday https://t.co/z8KwX2GNHo RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Most people (and companies) need a near-death experience before they can really change. tfadell [type:: tweet]
"The modern mind is overstimulated and the modern body is understimulated and overfed.

Meditation, exercise, and fasting restore an ancient balance."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Darwin was particularly disciplined about this. When he suspected that he wanted to believe something, he made a point of looking for contradictory evidence. paulg [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/NBucSx0Bq9 SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
Working oneself through disagreements can be time-consuming, so you can imagine how an idea meritocracy--where disagreement is not just tolerated but encouraged--could become dysfunctional if it's not managed well. #principleoftheday (1/3) https://t.co/kNngr1XA99 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Pretty much every smart person I know has a ChatGPT tab open while they work now. Amazing how fast that happened. nabeelqu [type:: tweet]
"A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to create anything great."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Startups and entrepreneurship is a game of grit not intelligence. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
If you want job security for your kid, tell them to be a plumber, not a doctor. amasad [type:: tweet]
"In any situation in life, you always have three choices: you can change it, you can accept it, or you can leave it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
To prioritize the day, think about the decade:

If I want to be on track to achieve X in 10 years, what do I need to do today? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Yes.

That's how I invalidated one really good startup idea, but validated a second, and now that second is @wpengine, a unicorn still going strong. https://t.co/2pQNFJgwqL

And here's how to build and run those customer interviews: https://t.co/gS1rFkKeyc asmartbear [type:: tweet]
What improved your quality of life so much you wish you did it sooner? FitFounder [type:: tweet]
Can you sum up your life’s philosophy in one sentence? WealthInc247 [type:: tweet]
it's not enough to just fix the bad things; we need to aspire to a future that involves building new amazing things

a lot of tech (and public policy) has forgotten this sama [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to align and inspire your team around a mission with a clear strategy on how to execute it into reality. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
“Life is short—the fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good.” —Marcus Aurelius RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
You’ll feel better once you get started. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Founders: can you say with certainty you’re not one of the 10 companies? DavidSacks [type:: tweet]
I have 2 portfolio companies that would have had a pretty mediocre 2022 ... except ...

Except they built a great second product

Both instead ended the year accelerating, after a rough patch

My only point is this:

Find a way jasonlk [type:: tweet]
And if you don't know the way?

Go on a listening tour

Go talk to 100 of your customers, at least 20 in person

They always have some good ideas

Build the best one or two jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"Charisma is the ability to project confidence and love at the same time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"You know you're good at something when you switch from making decisions with your conscious mind to making decisions with your instincts."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you have a new product trying to break into a mature market, you should spend a lot of time on how to reduce switching costs, as that might be a larger barrier even than sales and marketing. Maybe even offer to switch manually for the customer, or pay off their contracts. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"If you can't decide, the answer is No."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Hold your kids when they’re young - otherwise you’ll be holding them when they’re older. naval [type:: tweet]
Please stop building new features and market the ones your startup has. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Idea: Before writing an essay, have ChatGPT write one on the same topic to show you what would be the conventional thing to say, so you can avoid saying that. paulg [type:: tweet]
"Money doesn’t buy happiness - it buys freedom."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
On the way to school, 10 yo asked "What if I'm a failure?" I told him that at least some of his projects would probably fail, and that if they didn't, it would mean he was being too conservative. paulg [type:: tweet]
One possible solution to having less time to work after having kids: work on harder things. The hardest kinds of work can't be done for more than 4 or 5 hours a day anyway. paulg [type:: tweet]
Don't be in a hurry. Takes the fun out of life. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
"All modern diseases are diseases of abundance. We punish ourselves by constantly entertaining our minds and bodies."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Think Short Term

Thinking about problems too far in the future is a trap.

The answer is to figure it out when you get there.

Far more startups die while debating this question than die because they didn’t think about it enough. bbourque [type:: tweet]
I built multiple $100M+ companies.

The #1 impact lever? Hiring top talent.

13 tips to hire the right people every time: adcock_brett [type:: tweet]
Feedback doesn't have to be either candid or kind.

Good feedback is candid and kind. And it's even better when it's actionable.

The magic formula: Candid + Kind + Actionable

https://t.co/beAOCF2cbf DanielPink [type:: tweet]
Just as Instagram makes people look better than they are, Twitter makes them seem smarter than they are. naval [type:: tweet]
It takes time to develop your gut, but once it’s developed, don’t listen to anything else. naval [type:: tweet]
"The modern mental illness is anxiety."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Morning Pages to jeden z najlepszych "nawyków" jakie sobie wyrobiłem w ciągu ostatnich kilku lat.

Dlaczego? Co to jest? I jak pomaga mi na codzień? 👇 https://t.co/nxEIUnESb6 pawelkadysz [type:: tweet]
A $20/mo product is just as much work to make and sell as a $10/mo product, but it requires 1/2 the customers before you can quit your day job or hire your next employee. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
🙏 My personal thanks to all of those impacted by the HubSpot layoffs today (about 7% of the team).

Appreciate your contributions.

It has been 16 years since HubSpot was founded, and we are making the necessary changes to (hopefully) have 16 more of Solving For The Customer. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
"No success in the professional realm can compensate for failure in the home." - A wise friend.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Life is a series of seasons, and what works in one season may not work in the next.

What season are you in right now? What habits does that season require? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
"Observe when you’re angry—anger is a loss of control over the situation."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Money buys you freedom in the material world. It’s not going to make you happy, it’s not going to solve your health problems, it’s not going to make ur family great, it’s not going to make you fit,it’s not going to make you calm.But it will solve a lot of external problems
@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Water before coffee.

Weights before cardio.

Reading before social media.

Simple habits that can make a ton of difference. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
I've hired 133 people.
Sold millions in software.
0 funding.

Want to know what holds your company back from being high performers?

You treat your team like children.

Let me explain. 🧵 Patticus [type:: tweet]
What I would REALLY love to have is a private version of ChatGPT that’s been trained on your internal org documents. Have an HR question? Ask Chat. Don’t know how to use some application? Ask Chat. When is the next vacation day? Ask Chat. tunguz [type:: tweet]
Soon you will be forgotten.

Enjoy. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Hire for potential made sense when people stayed at the same company for 5 years. Makes much less sense when people shift roles every 18 months. andybudd [type:: tweet]
Great artists don’t study art history to figure out what art to create.

Great founders don’t analyze the market to figure out what product to build. naval [type:: tweet]
Smart phones removed boredom at the cost of peace of mind. TheStoicEmpire [type:: tweet]
Everyone does not report to everyone. Responsibilities and authorities are assigned to individuals based on assessments of their ability to handle them. #principleoftheday (1/4) https://t.co/DC4M7DPpsT RayDalio [type:: tweet]
A vendor called us this week to ask why we were churning

We didn’t have the energy to debate the real reason, so we told them >a< reason

But not the real reason

I suspect this is pretty common jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Before you commit to executing on an idea - starting a company or launching a new product - you should commit to researching it and trying it out first. tfadell [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to find ways to innovate on distribution strategy as much as you innovate on product strategy. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
It’s surprising and super unfortunate how vulnerable humans still are to nature. Seems like we should not be at this point in technology. amasad [type:: tweet]
In physics, power = work / time

In business, power = high-leverage work / time JamesClear [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/SbRxueOx6u SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
Start from user needs. Everything else will flow from there. jboogie [type:: tweet]
Peter Thiel: Distribution should be part of product design https://t.co/Fk7Tj6IvNe FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
Avoid unnecessary battles, keep your energy for the battles that are worth it, that you won’t be able to avoid. orangebook [type:: tweet]
"Persistence beats timing. Execution beats luck. Not immediately, but eventually."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Ten hours spent doing the right things > 80 hours doing the wrong things. shl [type:: tweet]
A decision-making group in which those who don't get what they want continue to fight rather than work for what the group has decided is destined to fail... #principleoftheday (1/4) https://t.co/4ZeB4jmy0r RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Disagree. A backlog is a time boxed, prioritised list of work. It is a forcing function to filter, prioritise and get something out the door in an effort to learn and improve, not to mention make progress.

If used correctly, it is a fantastic management tool (that’s a big IF). jboogie [type:: tweet]
Stop powering through crap:

There are many books I regret powering through, none that I regret quitting. Life is too short to put up with bad writing — bad anything.

If the food sucks, stop eating it. If the speaker is boring, get up and go. If the party is no fun, leave. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
The most important part of building a startup is figuring out the go to market model, from marketing to sales, this role is for the founder. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
If you delegate away everything that you love, what’s the point?

Wasn’t “not doing things you don’t like” one of the reasons you started a company?

At the same time, is “CEO” the correct title anymore?

Consistent decisions. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Looking for a stellar freelance front-end web design/dev for help with https://t.co/3fZmGzNYi0 (40k+ users a day) and other projects.

Must have launched stunning web apps using NextJS/React -- and believe in quick iteration.

Above market rate for exceptional talent.

Direct individuals only -- no agencies.

Email me: my-twitter-handle @ hubspot-dot-com dharmesh [type:: tweet]
In an idea meritocracy, there is bound to be more disagreement than in a typical organization, but when it's taken to an extreme, arguing and nitpicking can undermine the idea meritocracy's effectiveness. #principleoftheday https://t.co/69n9r0f9ki RayDalio [type:: tweet]
I often enjoy chasing bugs in purely functional code. But not bugs in threaded code with state. Does anyone enjoy chasing those? paulg [type:: tweet]
Remember this.

If you are confident about where you’re going, it’s OK to be uncertain about how you’ll get there. mbrandolph [type:: tweet]
Your startup's meetings don't need an agenda they need an outcome.

Too much time is wasted in meetings talking about stuff you're gonna do.

Just put that in an email or Slack message. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
What precedes an inflection in growth?

I researched 20+ products and found a few surprises:
1. The majority of growth inflections came after a specific product improvement
2. Many growth inflections came from an unexpected external event, without the product changing at all... https://t.co/buX8jKqjPI lennysan [type:: tweet]
Here's a list of the 24 startups I've tried to build over the years and why they failed: https://t.co/SuiMBPShuq thepatwalls [type:: tweet]
Yesterday I used ChatGPT to write a blog post...

It went straight to number 1 in Google.

And got 3,500 visits in the first 24 hours 🤯

Here are the details so you can try this method yourself👇 NicheSiteLady [type:: tweet]
In a company with 100 employees, 10 will produce half the work.

This is Price’s Law: 50% of the work is produced by the square root of the total employee base. tmrohan [type:: tweet]
5 Stoic lessons from Seneca:
1. We suffer more in imagination than in reality
2. Associate only with people who improve you
3. The greatest remedy for anger is delay
4. Value your time more than your possessions
5. Death is not in the distant future. We are dying every day RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
In your opinion, what’s the biggest mistake modern parents make raising their kids? SaveYourSons [type:: tweet]
@SaveYourSons Technology has changed, but I really believe the core mistakes are the same as they’ve always been. Bartering with attention and affection, lack of discipline, not teaching the value of work, and not teaching healthy relationship skills by example. JoshChavis65 [type:: tweet]
"Work as hard as you can. Even though what you work on and who you work with are more important."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
@SaveYourSons Teaching kids to “find” themselves… Instead, teach kids to build themselves. goteacherless [type:: tweet]
@SaveYourSons Failing to tell them they can't leave legos on the kitchen floor. mbritton [type:: tweet]
Procrastination is merely the avoidance of unpleasant emotions. Get comfortable with unpleasant emotions and the issue of procrastination takes care of itself. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Between the ages of 30-50 we lose up to 15% of our lung capacity. By age 80, we lose up to 30%.

The older we get the more we lose lung capacity.

If you want to live longer, build stronger lungs. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
writing a really great prompt for a chatbot persona is an amazingly high-leverage skill and an early example of programming in a little bit of natural language sama [type:: tweet]
My favorite startup strategy:
- Talk to customers
- Talk to customers
- Talk to customers
- Talk to customers
- Talk to customers agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to accept that every single problem at your company is entirely your fault and also your job to fix. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Leverage Lists > To Do Lists https://t.co/ZARVsGPDKX george__mack [type:: tweet]
Ask a customer if they’ll use a feature; they say “yes” but don’t use it.

Ask them to name a feature they actually want and there’s the “faster horse” problem of incremental improvement instead of vision.

What’s the answer? Just “gut feel” and sometimes you’re right? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The key is not to avoid making mistakes—it’s to avoid making the same mistake twice. mbrandolph [type:: tweet]
Everyone is gambling, all the time.

The "risk takers" have the courage to attempt something and gamble with the possibility of failure.

The "risk averse" avoid failure, but gamble with the opportunity cost of what they could have achieved—had they found the courage to try. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
My mission is to support Entrepreneurs in building global organizations.

Entrepreneurs have a real opportunity to change the world for the better. We won't change the world for the better by investing in real estate for rent. tomik99 [type:: tweet]
People with the most to teach live like they have the most to learn — and Steve loved learning. He was the most curious person I’ve ever met, which made him the best teacher I’ve ever known. Happy birthday, my friend. https://t.co/J45swZfZQ8 tim_cook [type:: tweet]
Premature strategery makes us feel smart but often results in a bad product.

Early on, avoid using smart-sounding terms like moats, switching costs, scale economies when making product decisions. Instead, fixate on what will make your product resonate strongly with customers. shreyas [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/dJ24Aa3vYg jasonlk [type:: tweet]
The only thing that really matters for a startup is having a product that people really want, and ideally can’t help but tell others about.

That’s probably 90% of the game. All the other startup accoutrements that we all hem and haw about are worth the other 10%. jaltma [type:: tweet]
If being productive means you're responding faster to other people's priorities, you are doing it wrong. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The most important thing you can do is understand that hiring is a high risk gamble that needs to be approached deliberately. A lot of time, effort, & resources go into hiring and developing new employees before it’s clear whether or not they are good fits. #principleoftheday 1/2 https://t.co/oIWFGufDdu RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Slowly shifting from a “work until 2 AM” because everybody is asleep and you can focus” to a “work starting at 4 am because everybody is asleep and you can focus” and it is shocking how different it is Austen [type:: tweet]
Apple exec on App Store

February 3, 2012 https://t.co/6FVyBGn0hI TechEmails [type:: tweet]
Everything great that ever existed had somebody micromanaging it Austen [type:: tweet]
Nie można w sensie ekonomicznym mówić w Polsce o deficycie mieszkań.

Nie jest tak, że więcej osób stać na mieszkanie niż może je kupić.

Można mówić o kryzysie aspiracji.
Większość ma większe aspiracje niż może zrealizować.

Drogą do realizacji aspiracji jest praca. SebStodolak [type:: tweet]
You know that decision / conversation / action that your dreading, but you already know that once it's done, you'll think "what a relief that at least it's over?"

Do it today.

You'll incur the pain regardless. So why drag out the dread as well? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
EXCLUSIVE $TSLA 🧵: I spoke with Tom Zhu after the #InvestorDay presentation and he shared key information that is not known until now.

I’m convinced he will be @Tesla’s next CEO after @elonmusk. He’s charismatic, succinct, incredibly intelligent and acts with a great sense of urgency. He will be our Tim 🍏 Cook!

Here is what he told me 1/x MatthewDR [type:: tweet]
@FitFounder Make 1:1 time with each kid a priority. It's good for them and you.

Aside from that, enjoy the blessing man.

Most people will tell you how hard it is (and it is at times).

But that pales in comparison to the joy. TMitrosilis [type:: tweet]
"My job is not to win a popularity contest." — Steve Jobs, 1997 SJobs_Stories [type:: tweet]
when we started @runwayco i made every product decision.

now (thanks to our team) i spend most of my time talking to customers and helping to bring the customer context to the team.

turns out the second one works a lot better. blader [type:: tweet]
My favorite productivity trick is deciding something is actually not worth doing. dvassallo [type:: tweet]
"Persistence beats timing. Execution beats luck. Not immediately, but eventually."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
@BesDMarx Founders aren't perfect. Just better than you. paulg [type:: tweet]
I made a list of 10 things I know I’d regret on my deathbed.

It was illuminating and inspiring.

Here’s my list (and why everyone should make one): SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
you’re not depressed

you’re just paying $1,500/month for a car you drive 2 hours per week GuyDealership [type:: tweet]
As much as I've been posted a bit recently on customer research, this is correct. You should do just enough to make sure you don't waste the next 6-12 months of your life, but get to building as soon as you've honestly validated that it might work. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
A good heuristic for founders - if it wasn’t your product, would you still use it? naval [type:: tweet]
working hard is infectious

being around people who are always working makes it shockingly easy to work really hard

inversely, surrounding yourself with leisurely or lazy people will make it nearly impossible to work hard

choose your own adventure—but be intentional alexandr_wang [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs said:

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.”

Legendary brands like Apple and Nike are built on storytelling.

Here's the simple 7 step framework to help you master storytelling: heykahn [type:: tweet]
One of the problems associated w/wealth is the expectation gap. At a maximally luxurious resort, a diluted espresso or delayed room service can make you frustrated. At a Hampton Inn, almost nothing irritates you.
Generalize the differential between expectation & delivery. nntaleb [type:: tweet]
Your grandchildren will wish you wrote more. david_perell [type:: tweet]
At the product retreat, we used GPT-3 to understand why customers cancel their paid Todoist accounts.

Here’s a small write-up of how this works and how you could utilize this to get valuable insights into improving your products. 🤖 amix3k [type:: tweet]
The more at peace we are, the more productive we can be. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
This is especially true over short periods of time like a year or two, yet most people want to assume that when someone does something wrong the person will learn the lesson and change. #principleoftheday (1/2) https://t.co/wM81mxs5p2 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
I don't know, giving the customer a faster horse might be just fine.

Especially if you're building the next 37signals and not the next Ford/Tesla. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I just sold https://t.co/culXGjg8HN for $65,000 🤩🚀

Launched it 3 months ago, with 0 budget and less than 600 followers. I learned to code only 9 months ago.

Big thanks @agazdecki & @acquiredotcom to have made it possible!

If you're curious, here is the whole story:

December 2022, 20:40. I had a sudden idea. What if I made an app to generate logos using AI?

I was making AI logos already for my other projects, so I knew how to do it. However, I needed to validate 2 hypotheses:

🤔 Can I make logos in an automated way?
🤔 Would people pay for it?

I decided to make an MVP in 48 hours, as deadlines are the way to go when launching anything: https://t.co/XLbPOgAD7Q

48 hours, 1 earthquake and 2 power outages later, I had my crappy MVP ready 🥳

By crappy I mean a static HTML page linked to a Typeform to collect payment. The back end was literally me generating the logos and sending them by email.
No framework, no fancy stuff, just text and pictures.

I made a few posts on Twitter and generated a couple of sales from it: https://t.co/oJWmZapfJ4

Sales = Validation. The next step was to make an automated version, so I made another challenge of making an automated version in 48h and launching it on @ProductHunt 🚀🚀

And oh boy, things went crazy! I launched on December 11 and generated +$1000 of sales, ended up Product of the Day, and got tons of followers on Twitter, so I knew I was into something 🤩

However, it was far from perfect. Lots of logos needed additional editing or ended up weird because the customer inputs/prompts weren't good.

So, I started from scratch again and made a brand new version in January.
The new version offered way more options, and better results overall ✨

Then, I added the app to every startup directory I could put my hand on. And that's how most of my traffic came.

I also kept posting on Twitter, every time someone asked "what are you working on?" I replied with the name of the app, and the same when someone asked for AI-generated logos 🤓

And... That's pretty much it. I tried to run some ads on Twitter & Reddit but it didn't work that much, as it's not targeted enough.

Now, I don't have much interest in logo/design, and I don't have the technical skills to improve the app further, so, I decided to sell it in February.

@acquiredotcom made the process pretty easy, I received a few offers, and ended up choosing the best offer. Then I did the transfer and here we are 🥳

In total, the app made +$23,000 in sales and $15,000 in profit. So, that's around $80,000 in total (profit + sale), which is equivalent to at least 5 years of safety net where I live 😱

If you want a more detailed post, I wrote everything I was doing in real-time back then: https://t.co/iEpUio2pDs

Now, keep in mind that it's not my first shot at entrepreneurship.
In the last 5 years, I launched around 35 projects and most were total failures. Just between October and December 2022, I released 7 different apps.

I never gave up. I kept showing up. It's a number game.

The odds are against you, but at some point, you'll get something that sticks 😉

So... What's next? 🤔

I hate customer service. So I hired an assistant to do it on https://t.co/culXGjg8HN. But in most cases, it's the same questions over and over. So I made an app to help my assistant works 2x faster.

Last weekend, I made a post to show it and some people asked for a public app, so I made it.

If you want to join the beta, you can go to https://t.co/iO5YcpP4I2.

For testers, it's $15/month forever instead of +$30 later.

It's also a crappy MVP, there is not even a Stripe integration, I’ll DM users to give them the payment link 😁

And again, thanks to everyone for the massive support I got with MakeLogo along the way. Couldn't have done it without you 🥰 nico_jeannen [type:: tweet]
The wealthiest people I know don’t have anger issues.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen them upset.

If anything they have a very stoic response to any negative situation.

They just look at the facts, handle it and move on. danmartell [type:: tweet]
When you focus on ROI, the numerator often isn’t terribly different between many tasks, which means you over-weight “quick wins.”

QWs are good, but what if you never have a big impact?

I explain how to not fall into this trap in:

https://t.co/GZp5dEYLZ7 asmartbear [type:: tweet]
A roadmap for internal hype is different from a roadmap for selling potential new customers is different from a roadmap for engaging with long-time customers is different from a roadmap for holding teams accountable is different from ... asmartbear [type:: tweet]
One of the benefits of DIY is avoiding moving money through the economy.

If you pay a plumber $100:
- $30 go to the IRS
- $15 go to social security
- $10 go as sales tax
- $4 go to the credit card processor
- $3 go to the gas station
You spend $100, the plumber keeps $38. dvassallo [type:: tweet]
Perfection isn’t free.

Striving for perfection may seem ideal, but it comes with a cost.

As you invest more time and resources, the cost of missed opportunities increases.

Sometimes 'better' is good enough. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
What if you sort your to-do list by "leverage," as defined (loosely, I admit) by getting maximum results from a given effort?

OK, you can't ignore firm due-dates, but within hard constraints, is this a better way to set "priority?" asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@mbertulli That depends on your team size and budget...

I also find that many tasks can just not be done at all, or changed to a 20% version that's clearly worse but allows you to move on. Sometimes that's needed too for the 'O' asmartbear [type:: tweet]
ChatGPT has changed SEO forever.

However, many SEO specialists and content creators don't use it.

I'm using it daily now. This is how. 👇 Ldnbox [type:: tweet]
“Where your fear is, there is your task”

— Carl Jung

Such a wonderful, deep observation about getting things done. shreyas [type:: tweet]
"Text is precise, compact, indexable, transmissible, translatable, asynchronous & quick to absorb. Intelligent, busy people prefer text."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
In order to apply most of your energy in one direction, you have to say no to things that a lot of other people say yes to.

Most successful people are masters at eliminating the unnecessary from their lives. farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
To ship faster, shrink the team. shl [type:: tweet]
When you don't have the energy to perform excellent, focussed work, spending that time grooming your to-do list (including priority, pushing out due dates, purging some things, reducing the sizes of "next actions") ensures you will be effective in the next time window. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Everyone’s dad or father figure had a few wise words they really wanted you to remember.

My dad’s top 3 were:

Whatever you do, be the best.
They can never take your education.
God gave you the power to ignore, use it.

What were your dads? AlexHormozi [type:: tweet]
People plan too much. You can probably get away with planning 90% less. amasad [type:: tweet]
You know what's better than delegating?

Just not doing it.

Or doing something in 1/10th the time that obviates it.

Most stuff you want/should do, you don't have time for, so this should be a lot more common than you think. It's a matter of facing facts. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"I'm about 2x more productive when I avoid wheat, alcohol, and meetings."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
When you're forced to attend an unnecessary meeting that could have been an email. https://t.co/8ohP4FMIcL timecamp [type:: tweet]
Good copy is falsifiable. https://t.co/GaNSLOvzAz GoodMarketingHQ [type:: tweet]
When you're doing a deal with a large organization, find out if the people you're negotiating with actually have final say. Usually they don't, and that means the deal you've agreed upon can be, and often is, killed at the last minute by higher ups. paulg [type:: tweet]
With Outlook and GMail adding both email generation and summarisation, this is what email will look like soon.

(graphic by @multikev) https://t.co/JVt2sEHTjy tanayj [type:: tweet]
How do you organize all of the projects and tasks you’re working on each week? dickiebush [type:: tweet]
@dickiebush I've been putting them into $10 / 100 / 1000 / $10k buckets via @khemaridh

https://t.co/1woqZ3hDGM artofnext [type:: tweet]
How to create an "Aging Effect" video using Midjourney v5 & RunwayML

🧵 Thread w/ step-by-step breakdown of workflow https://t.co/H12sXlUQ6q nickfloats [type:: tweet]
Here is my calendar for this week.

🔑 The secret? Embracing an async-first work approach! It's a game-changer, and I'm surprised more people (especially leaders) haven't adopted it yet. https://t.co/zae3MclX1x amix3k [type:: tweet]
4 years in, Microsoft had only 11 employees. Growing headcount is nothing to celebrate. Moving mountains with limited resources is. sethbannon [type:: tweet]
Bycie przedsiębiorcą nie powinno być celem, a efektem ubocznym stworzenia rozwiązania faktycznego problemu. sadek [type:: tweet]
"The reality is life is a single-player game. You’re born alone. You’re going to die alone. All of your interpretations are alone. All your memories are alone. You’re gone in three generations and nobody cares. Before you showed up, nobody cared. It’s all single-player."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Why should anyone buy your product over some competitor?

If you can't answer in the space of a tweet, you need to work on the answer.

If there is no answer, you have bigger problems than achieving pithy communication. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
If you're not working hard, ideas don’t matter. The best idea is worthless without execution.

If you're already working hard, ideas are crucial. Most effort is wasted on mediocre ideas. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
The one decision I’ve made that is particularly career limiting is I try never to do meetings. My life is so much better for it. But obviously would be impossible for me to run any kind of organization at scale with this policy. maccaw [type:: tweet]
I hear many founders with millions in revenue saying they “don’t have product-market fit”

That’s wrong

What’s usually happening is their software isn’t very good, so everyone is churning when it doesn’t do what was promised

If the product worked well, they’d stay jasonlk [type:: tweet]
“The most courageous decision that you can make each day is to be in a good mood.”

— Voltaire farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
🎾 "You have to go talk to the users every week and spend a lot of time with them to hear their pain, get inside their head." nurijanian [type:: tweet]
The Collisons are playing the long game. That's one of their secret weapons. paulg [type:: tweet]
ChatGPT is just the tip of the iceberg.

20 AI tools that will transform your productivity forever: https://t.co/MPk4sb6nZF heykahn [type:: tweet]
There are 303 visuals in What's Our Problem? Here are 15 of them.

First, the path of a maturing thinker. I still often find myself on this roller-coaster when I learn about a new topic. It's human nature. But as we grow as thinkers, we can get better at skipping steps 1-4. https://t.co/vcmsb9jf6F waitbutwhy [type:: tweet]
We’re at the start of a new software paradigm where you can have a single interface to ask AI to run a query across any number of systems, synthesize the responses in a human readable way, or execute any number of tasks in that system. 🤯 levie [type:: tweet]
“Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty." — @tferriss RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
"Knowing how little you matter is very important for your own mental health and happiness."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Confidence is one of the biggest life hacks, and I'm not sure anything else even comes close. drgurner [type:: tweet]
Welcome to YC and congrats on the launch, team @withBerilium!

Berilium (YC W23) is a wealthtech investing platform that lets individuals access top private equity and private credit investments, with minimums starting at $10k.

Learn more: https://t.co/1kJ08c1PG1 https://t.co/VquDMEUvU4 ycombinator [type:: tweet]
Want to get rid of the belly fat? I made an 8-minute video on the STEP-BY-STEP plan you can use to lose 15-50 pounds in 90 days.

Impossible to fail if you follow the plan.

It's yours for FREE - just comment "easy" below.

(must be following me) https://t.co/oaHUO2ow23 TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
This is a great way of expressing what Tim Urban, and I, and many others have discovered about how to be successful through failing well and accepting what you don’t know. (1/3) RayDalio [type:: tweet]
No first-version of a successful software product was ever built by more than 10 engineers. Agree/disagree?

My mentor, Rajeev Motwani, who also mentored the founders of Google, used to say that the ideal size for a first-version product team is from 5-7 people. Just like in a startup, these lean teams should consist of driven self-starters who thrive in a highly independent environment. These people also have to have the right skills and talent.

If a team requires more than 10 members to function, Rajeev used to say you haven't chosen the right team. jyotibansalsf [type:: tweet]
Most projects are not large enough for Microservices. simas_ch [type:: tweet]
The 8 best movies that every entrepreneur should watch:
1. Moneyball
"When your enemy’s making mistakes, don’t interrupt him." https://t.co/N6Cmauitrn matt_gray_ [type:: tweet]
Balance rarely comes from increasing efficiency. It usually involves reducing responsibilities.

The more priorities we have, the harder they are to juggle. It's better to do a few things well than be overwhelmed by many.

A key to avoiding burnout is deciding what doesn't matter. AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
A new Steve Jobs memoir… really? The important parts have been said by now. If you really want to honor SJ’s legacy:

• Imagine a way you think the world could be better.
• Figure out a concrete way to make it happen.
• Get to work.

https://t.co/WRQKvlkw7j kocienda [type:: tweet]
One thing I’ve learned in the last year: Your entire life can change with one year of focused daily effort.

If you bring the energy every single day, there are quite literally no limits to what you can achieve.

Never bet against the person who just keeps showing up. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
The great law of nature is that it never stops. There is no end. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
HBR Case Study from 2025:

You’re the founder/CEO of a $75M+ revenue company. You not only have PMF, you are the leading player in your category, a category that you created. You raised a humongous round in 2021 so while you’re not profitable, you have 5+ years of runway. Life is peachy, right?

Not so fast. You have 3 problems:

(a) Your growth has slowed down as buying cycles have lengthened. You were growing 50-70% YoY, now it’s 10-20% YoY. This dramatic, unprecedented slowdown has made you question your TAM, your category, everything.
(b) Your new investors from 2021 - remember them? - are pushing you to grow faster. They want to see their investment grow 3x in 3 years. You don’t want to tell them that it’s instead probably shrunk by 70% in the last two years.
(c) Your execs and employees are growing nervous. They’re questioning what the real value of the company is. You don’t have good answers for them.

What do you do? Do you pour fuel on uncertain growth, increase your burn, shorten your runway? Or do you cut back, become profitable, grow more predictably? How do you mollify your stakeholders?

It’s April 2023. You stand at the floor-to-ceiling windows of your penthouse (bought with the proceeds of your secondary sale in 2022), pondering these fundamental questions as you look out at the glittering (SF / NYC / Miami / London / Bengaluru) skuline. Your board meeting is this coming week. What is your strategy? What will you communicate to them? gokulr [type:: tweet]
@gokulr Spend the next 6mos with the #1 goal of increasing NPS and the following 6mos with the #1 goal of increasing NRR. calcsam [type:: tweet]
@gokulr your growth slowed because your buyer’s reality changed.

Start customer centric: what changed? where is their focus? how can you be relevant?

Spend time with CS, get on calls, fly to your customers, start a customer advocacy group

Whatever NRR you have, get it to 120%+ briansowards [type:: tweet]
"Why We Ditched Slack for Basecamp (or...) How Basecamp Made Us Happy Again"

How the crew at https://t.co/fXIDIGgWUy changed how they worked for the better by switching to Basecamp.

The tools you use matter:
https://t.co/bFD6N7Tq8u https://t.co/jIg87cTLBa jasonfried [type:: tweet]
My wife and I recently started a monthly check-in ritual.

It’s been incredible for our relationship.

The Life Dinner: SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
To niesamowite uczucie, kiedy duży producent samochodowy z USA pisze do nas, że poprawili elementy produktu (np zagłówki) w oparciu o analizy przygotowane przez nasz https://t.co/vVUrjvuJwG 💪 🔥 Wiedza konsumencka, jaką nasz zespół potrafi znaleźć i przeanalizować zrywa kapcie. https://t.co/faPfBScshG sadek [type:: tweet]
🥱 Tired of the old-fashioned punch card system?

Our new time clock feature is here to revolutionize how you manage your on-site team!

🚪🚶‍♂️TimeCamp Kiosk lets your employees clock in and out easily using a shared device and a unique 4-digit PIN code!

👇Available on all plans. https://t.co/MD314Zn8GK timecamp [type:: tweet]
Mark Zuckerberg: "Our philosophy on perks"

September 18, 2009 https://t.co/745jkOOday TechEmails [type:: tweet]
these 5 lines of code can add crazy shit to your apps. use them.

🧵: https://t.co/HoIDtm4fnl Steve8708 [type:: tweet]
The endemic battle of SMB SaaS is to somehow, some way get to 100% NRR jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Today I spent about an hour and 20 minutes writing Google sign-in code in Javascript. 3 trips to the stack, I then went and asked Ghostwriter in Replit... a few seconds later, code done.

This world is changing my friend. DanRaine [type:: tweet]
I coach several founders who compete directly against each other.

Here’s what the winner does:
- Don’t worry about competition
- They fall in love w/ problem, not solution
- Talk to customers
- Have a crystal clear vision for domination
- They execute daily (every day)
Focus. danmartell [type:: tweet]
One of my essential rules for life. https://t.co/ucShpKKGLQ SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Becoming somewhat usable 😊
#buildingpublic https://t.co/xO1FzB2hSt gahabeen [type:: tweet]
Nobody ever said radical honesty was easy. Sometimes, especially with new employees who have not yet gotten used to it, an honest assessment feels like an attack. #principleoftheday (1/2) https://t.co/iwDYZ2dJsT RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Run toward bad news

Sometimes you need a moment. That's OK. But after that, hiding makes it worse.

Process it ... Then:

Address it
Share it
Talk about it
Make a plan
Act on it

Your team and investors will rally jasonlk [type:: tweet]
VC's are FINALLY starting to realize the power of industry specific software aka vertical SaaS.

In the last few months I've seen more and more top tier investors come out of the woodwork with blogs and overviews.

Why the time is right for YOU to start a vSaaS business 🧵 https://t.co/k0JHORrckD lukesophinos [type:: tweet]
Thank you to all the investors who are investing in the YC w23 batch. After working with over 800 YC companies over the past 10 years I also wanted to offer 1 piece of advice. mwseibel [type:: tweet]
"You get paid for being right first, and to be first, you can’t wait for consensus." - @naval QuotesOfNaval [type:: tweet]
It's often the case that someone receiving critical feedback gets preoccupied with the implications of that feedback instead of whether it's true. This is a mistake. As I'll explain later, conflating the "what is" with the "what to do about it" typically leads to bad decision making. Help others through this by giving feedback in a way that makes it clear that you're just trying to understand what's true. Figuring out what to do about it is a separate discussion. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
A Founder we’re working with is getting a 65% - 75% demo conversion rate right now, want to tell you how we did it:
1. Installed a system that increased the show up rate. Instead of reminders talking about the “demo” (which no one cares about), we focused on the benefit they’d get from attending the demo.
2. Created a 2 month “nurture” campaign for no-shows. Each email speaks to a specific pain point, and how we can solve it for them. CTA was to “Speak with a specialist to get help” instead of “schedule your demo.”
NOTE: We didn’t make them feel bad by saying, “You missed the demo” or “Haven’t been able to get a hold of you.” Every email we sent focused on a pain they might be having and how we can help
1. Added additional qualification questions to the demo request page. We discovered that their ideal clients all had a similar characteristics, so we added a question addressing that to the demo request page.
2. Fewer demo requests came in, but the quality was significantly higher.
  Now that they were spending less time talking to unqualified prospects, we used the “Strategic Partner Playbook” to find partners who already built an audience of their ideal customers, and reached out to them.
Good quality partners care less about the extra money they’ll make, and more about sending their audience to someone that they trust and that will help their audience have more success.

So the outreach was focused on “Here’s how we can help you provide more value to your audience” , while using the partner commission as a secondary bonus.

Made a few other small tweaks. These were the main ones.

Next step is to get more demos.

Please note, this plan was designed specifically for them - it may or may not work for you.

Doing the right things in the wrong order leads to frustration and discouragement, so make sure you focus on the ORDER right now instead of the HOW. danmartell [type:: tweet]
The Pocket Guide of Essential YC Advice 📙 https://t.co/flwwSdXwHP ycombinator [type:: tweet]
Unique is great, but the best ideas are copied; nothing stays unique.

Special, you can control. Unique you can’t.

Strive to have a special company - brand, values, product, some features. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I built a $100M software company called Vettery.

This wouldn't have been possible without a culture of speed & efficiency.

7 hard-earned productivity insights: adcock_brett [type:: tweet]
Early signs of start-up success:
- founders being 100% focused on talking to customers & finding PMF
- rate of product releases
- founders obsessing about quality of first 10 team members
- how quickly founders fire 1st underperforming employee
- consistency of investor updates bwertz [type:: tweet]
Laundry is a battle you can't win. Especially if you have kids.

After our second baby, the laundry situation in our home went crazy. There were piles of unsorted laundry EVERYWHERE.

Well, not anymore. Because we DIY'd a system.

Introducing the "Trofast Laundry System" 👇👇👇 https://t.co/5Jd0mrrlnR hellobasak [type:: tweet]
Step #4 - Create an admin playbook.

Have your assistant create the playbook, NOT you.

As they're learning your preferences, scheduling, replying, etc...

Ask them to document it and show it to you.

This locks in learning and allows you to quickly train anyone. https://t.co/cSstQxhpne danmartell [type:: tweet]
1. Big ideas are magnets for talented people
2. Determine your direction, then take massive action
3. Listening deeply is more valuable than talking loudly adcock_brett [type:: tweet]
1. Build a network of peers to keep you accountable to your goals
2. Instinct backed by data is as close to a sure decision as you'll get
3. The most powerful productivity hack in the world is saying no adcock_brett [type:: tweet]
1. Never build something if you aren't committed to making it great
2. Set challenging deadlines and you'll hit them the same as other deadlines, in half the time
3. Planning every week out will change your career adcock_brett [type:: tweet]
you don't actually love "quiet luxury." you're in love with the idea of inherited wealth, spacious uncluttered homes, and enough free time to pursue your hobbies https://t.co/OwSn6wWxVP dieworkwear [type:: tweet]
I find mental “time travel” to be a very useful trick:

Go back 10 years and realize how amazed your younger self would be at where you are today.

Go forward 50 years and realize how much your older self will long for the challenges you’re currently facing.

Works wonders. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Work under uncertainty:
- Hard work → Trial & error
- Focus → Many things at once
- Optimization → 80/20 rule
- Consistency → Intensity
- Avoid distractions → Embrace randomness
- Practice 10,000 hrs → 100 bets
- Goals → Stay in the game
- Efficiency → Slack in the system dvassallo [type:: tweet]
When we can’t deal with a certain pain, we compensate by compulsively distracting ourselves from that pain. https://t.co/WLBws6Y00W IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
You've heard the expression "no pain no gain." Psychologists have shown that the most powerful personal transformations come from experiencing the pain from mistakes that a person never wants to have again--known as "hitting bottom." So don't be hesitant to give people those experiences or have them yourself.

While it is important to be clear to people about what they are doing well, it is even more important to point out their weaknesses and have them reflect on them.

Problems require more time than things that are going well. They must be identified and understood and addressed, while things that are running smoothly require less attention. Instead of celebrating how great we are, we focus on where we need to improve, which is how we got to be so great. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
awkward truth:

engineering productivity is far more correlated with culture than team size

there are startups w/ 10 engineers that ship more for their customers than big co engineering teams of 1000 (ex: Midjourney)

you cannot throw people and/or money at building great things alexandr_wang [type:: tweet]
You generally gain time from using unit-tests and I have the data to back this up.

I recently listened to the latest @MicroConf video with @robwalling and @derrickreimer and in it they discussed unit-tests. This thread is my contribution.

Thanks to @asmartbear for feedback. Tony_Meijer [type:: tweet]
"The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you want to become an expert at anything, read this.

The 4 Stages of Competence: https://t.co/0sYP7XdUOZ SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Lesson from the early years of HubSpot:

Don't try to convince people you have a better solution than your competitors.

Convince them that you picked a better problem to solve. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Question time: What’s the best way to ensure accurate timekeeping for on-site company employees – ☀️ a sundial or ⌚️ a wristwatch?

#timemanagement #HR #payroll https://t.co/ABEWpL9lkY timecamp [type:: tweet]
We've adopted @rjs/@basecamp Shape-Up methodology almost one year ago.

Thanks to @NotionHQ databases and @linear projects and updates our workflow has never been more efficient.

Here's some info (with screenshots) how we set it up 👇 digitalbase [type:: tweet]
It's true, indie devs hate marketing and love writing code and maybe design.

That's why they don't spend enough time on marketing and sales.

That's part of why they typically fail.

Possibly the main reason. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"Humans aren’t evolved to worry about everything happening outside of their immediate environment."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"Success is the inevitable byproduct of learning (not education)."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"This is how GPT-4 sees and hears itself"

I used GPT-4 to describe itself. Then I used its description to generate an image, a video based on this image and a soundtrack.

Tools I used: GPT-4, Midjourney, Kainber AI, Mubert, RunwayML

This is the description I used that GPT-4 had of itself as a prompt to text-to-image, image-to-video, and text-to-music. I put the video and sound together in RunwayML. icreatelife [type:: tweet]
The RICE prioritization framework is flawed.

Purely ROI-driven prioritization can lead to worse outcomes.

Ranking features on cost vs value is often usually worse than just looking at the value side of the equation.

Ask: What really matters to customers? https://t.co/aXIqp1mICv carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
You can use formulas to generate fractals in the prompts. If you are not great at maths, just take this prompt and ask GPT-4 to re-write it for a different fractal.

Share with me your fractals.

Prompt: A highly detailed airbrush painting, using a parametric equation to create captivating art, x(t) = A * cos(a * t) * cos(t) + A * sin(b * t) * cos(t) and y(t) = A * cos(a * t) * sin(t) + A * sin(b * t) * sin(t), where 'A', 'a', and 'b' are constants, and 't' ranges from 0 to 2π. By experimenting with different values for 'A', 'a', and 'b', you can generate a variety of intriguing and visually appealing designs, combine this with other artistic elements and styles to create a captivating abstract design --ar 3:2 icreatelife [type:: tweet]
We took a website from 0 to 750K/mo SEO traffic using 100% AI-generated content.
- 7K total pages generated
- Hit 300K/mo after 6 months
- Hit 750K/mo after 12 months
- 4K+ keywords in positions 1-3
- 13K+ keywords in positions 4-10
Here’s the breakdown: https://t.co/tQf65aXpWt jakezward [type:: tweet]
Truly absurd to me how much of corporate America spends their entire work day on Zoom calls with tens of people

Almost everyone’s camera is off and is muted

No one particularly wants to be there

Everyone is distracted and doing other stuff

Can’t be good, no? ankurnagpal [type:: tweet]
Write down all the projects you are working on right now. What is the one thing that, if you had the courage to eliminate it entirely, would make all the others easier? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
CEOs selling to enterprises: don’t let the PLG / PLS motion blind you to the importance of relationships in enterprise sales. These relationships are nurtured over time through meals, gifts, sporting events, etc. Don’t skimp on $1000 to close $5m deals.

Too many CEOs who’ve grown up in the age of PLG, seem to think of enterprise selling as purely transactional and rational. Don’t make this mistake. Have your EA or CoS figure out a schedule of getting Warriors / Knicks / Lakers tickets for your enterprise partners and prospects, taking them to nice dinners, sending them (nice) holiday gifts, etc. Don’t leave it to chance. Build the machine. gokulr [type:: tweet]
If you’re overloaded with things to do, you’re doing all, or almost all, of them poorly.

That’s actually ok, if none of them need to be done well, and you cannot delegate. But what does that say about the value of your time?

What is the opportunity cost of that? (1/2) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Act out of interest, not out of obligation. naval [type:: tweet]
Large company's asset is distribution.

Small company's asset is speed of product delivery.

Partnerships only work when both can profit.

That means putting great product into an existing channel.

Hard to make anything else work. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
A founder is someone who keeps the organization focused on the product and not the organization. naval [type:: tweet]
You say you don't have time to read but here you are on Twitter. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
"Businesses that switched to Stripe's newest payments integration—the Payment Element—saw a 10.5% increase in revenue on average compared to those that did not."

That figure is so large that it sounds like some kind of specious marketing hand-wave, so we elaborated a bit more in this post: https://t.co/Jtdre56Kls. The finding is actually from a full difference-in-differences analysis run by our in-house data scientists and economists, with n=10,000 sample size. patrickc [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/biXok7mN3V jasonlk [type:: tweet]
After 20 years of interviewing candidates, I've found this to be the single most useful interview question:

"What is your greatest strength ... that you are most worried about not coming across in an interview setting?" blader [type:: tweet]
The world's most valuable skill: Clarity of Thought.

The problem? There's no school for this. It takes time, patience and a lot of early career fumbling.

In this week's screenshot essay (with my friends at @Compound), I broke down how I have increased my clarity of thought and the practical questions I ask myself when I'm trying to break through: RomeenSheth [type:: tweet]
@icreatelife https://t.co/Fmn7VQUjlo kylelf_ [type:: tweet]
the arc of technology is towards simplicity.

talking to a computer like we talk to a human is pretty simple.

we have come a long way from punch cards to natural language, but within the paradigm of natural language, we can now go so far. sama [type:: tweet]
1. Try a bunch of new stuff, fail at most of it
2. Find something that works
3. Then double down on what works, quit doing everything else
4. Grow exponentially
5. When growth slows down, go back to Step 1
This can practically be applied to all areas of life. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
By age 3, kids prefer nature's fractal patterns, despite the fact that most are raised in manmade structures with Euclidean geometry, suggesting this may be something innate, and may explain how viewing nature’s fractals reduces stress and mental fatigue https://t.co/f3KxZ860uq https://t.co/28YAC5w1kA Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
Overdeliver like crazy. Make your clients feel like they're stealing from you. This is what leads to viral word of mouth. TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
Exemplary representation of the Ohm's law

[read more: https://t.co/d1PqC7zfi5]
#FridayFunday https://t.co/gcly9DMx4C Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
A rare counterexample to the principle of specialization: your site should never seem like it was made by communications people, and the best way to achieve this is for it not to be. This is something founders should continue to micromanage forever. paulg [type:: tweet]
This is an instance of a more general principle: don't delegate the soul of the organization. paulg [type:: tweet]
how i get gpt4 to efficiently teach me anything:

"Teach me how <anything> works by asking questions about my level of understanding of necessary concepts. With each response, fill in gaps in my understanding, then recursively ask me more questions to check my understanding." blader [type:: tweet]
"Unique" is great, but the best ideas are copied; nothing stays unique.

"Special," you can control. Unique you can’t.

Strive to have a special company - brand, values, product, some features. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
1/ How to do outbound at your startup:

I talk to startups every day about using outbound to generate new opportunities. Almost 100% of them are doing it wrong. samdblond [type:: tweet]
Our Q1 board meeting was yesterday.

It was my 33rd board meeting as CEO of @Broadlume

Coming from @Google I had never run a board meeting beforehand

I kept notes for myself after each meeting starting in 2015.

After 33 meetings, here are the 10 big lessons learned 👇 toddsaunders [type:: tweet]
2/ Send monthly board updates

This will again eliminate end of quarter surprises and build trust with your board.

Losing trust with your board is hard to regain.

Keep the updates consistent MoM
👉 Financials
👉 CEO summary / perspective
👉 Good news
👉 Bad news toddsaunders [type:: tweet]
4/ Let your team run the show

As CEO, you should do the executive summary and add commentary to other slides but your executive team are the ones presenting.

CFO - finance slides
CRO - revenue slides
COO - all reporting and KPIs toddsaunders [type:: tweet]
PSA: You need a Chief of Staff.

I hired one last year:

My productivity doubled – and I’m having a ton more fun.

I wish I’d done it years ago.

Here's how I did it: girdley [type:: tweet]
2 unemployed friends bootstrapped a SaaS & sold it for $10M+ in 18 months

Hustled to grow it from 0 to $1.2M in revenue

This is my story, how much money I made & everything I learned 👇 https://t.co/ipCoEUtEBV tibo_maker [type:: tweet]
A feature should either THRILL ≥15% of customers or be USEFUL to ≥60%.

Amazing how many are neither.

You don't have time for those. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
My reflection on the TOP 3 FATAL MISTAKES I made with @Zlappo that ended up killing my business:

(sharing so you hopefully don't make the same mistakes as me)

🧵 therealjayber [type:: tweet]
"Someone you want to sit down at the end of the day, each day, to talk about the day."

https://t.co/wmeDcTA3Ty jasonlk [type:: tweet]
My favorite quotes after reviewing my notes on Sam Zell:

“I believe the fundamentals of business—supply and demand, liquidity equals value, good corporate governance, and reliable partners, to name a few—apply across the board.”

“When you’re a repeat player, when your world is your business and your business is your world, it’s all about long-term relationships. In any negotiation I believe in leaving a little bit on the table. And in any relationship I believe in sharing the stakes.”

“On one of my walks I discovered a newsstand underneath the “L” tracks. It was 1953, and a provocative new magazine called Playboy had just made its debut featuring Marilyn Monroe on the cover. It sold for 50 cents. I bought a copy and thought it was terrific. So I brought it home to Highland Park, where it wasn’t for sale, and showed it to my friends. One of them offered to buy it. “Three bucks,” I said. After that, I started a little magazine import business and, in the process, learned a lasting business lesson: Where there is scarcity, price is no object. This basic tenet of supply and demand would later become a governing principle of my investment philosophy.”

“Opportunity is very often embedded in the imbalance between supply and demand. It could be rising demand against flat or diminishing supply, or flat demand against shrinking supply. When there’s an imbalance, I look at where the two lines will intersect and then determine whether it is cheaper to buy or to build. Usually the answer is in acquisition, which eliminates a lot of the risk inherent in development.”

“The most reliable measure of our buildings’ value remained—and had always been, in my opinion—replacement cost. Replacement cost mattered more to me than rents or comparable prices or vacancies or economic growth or stock price. This was because replacement cost determined the price of future competition.”

“there’s no substitute for limited competition. You can be a genius, but if there’s a lot of competition, it won’t matter.”

“I often say I’m chairman of everything and the CEO of nothing. I stick to what I’m good at—vision, direction, strategy. That’s where I add the most value. I spend almost my entire day listening to other people. I ask questions, I probe, I raise possibilities.”

“I tell my kids and grandkids, “Your responsibility is to maximize the skills you were given. But whatever you decide to do, invest everything you have in it—excel. What I’ve done is not the example I wanted to set; it’s the way I’ve done it that I hope you emulate, through focus, effort, and commitment.”

And perhaps best of all…

“if you’re really good at what you do, you have the freedom to be who you really are.” patrick_oshag [type:: tweet]
You might want to "work forever" because it's fulfilling, but probably not on exactly the same things. This is the founder's dilemma -- you like newness but mature companies require process and repeatability.

Solution: Change your role and hire the best. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Noise is a secret destroyer of productivity.

It is secret because it impacts cognition, not effort, so we don’t notice, but a 10db noise increase (from a dishwasher to a vacuum) lowers productivity by 5%. Noise is also greater in poorer neighborhoods... https://t.co/RaIAsSudyY https://t.co/egb8YckkhV emollick [type:: tweet]
I deleted all productivity apps a while ago and I couldn’t be happier.

Using several apps to become more productive actually makes you unproductive. You waste valuable time that you could use for work.

Take a pen and a paper or simple note app, write down your tasks, and cross them when you finish. Simple and effective. catalinmpit [type:: tweet]
Investors in startups used to ask “what if Google copies your idea?” But now I think they should be asking mature companies “what if indie hackers copies your product and makes it cheaper with less people / technical debt & moves faster” ransegall [type:: tweet]
Build a life that you don’t need to escape from. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
No matter what work you do, at a high level you are simply setting goals and building machines to help you achieve them. I built the machine that is Bridgewater by constantly comparing its actual outcomes to my mental map of the outcomes that it should be producing, and finding ways to improve it.

I won't say anything specific about how you should set your own organization's goals other than that the high-level principles about goal setting I covered in Life Principles apply equally to individuals and organizations. I will, however, point out that in running your organization, you and the people you work with must be clear on how your lower-level goals--whether they're to produce things cost-effectively, achieve high customer satisfaction, help a certain number of people in need, whatever--grow out of your higher-level goals and values.

No matter how good you are at design, your machine will have problems. You or some other capable mechanic needs to identify those problems and look under the hood of the machine to diagnose their root causes. You or whoever is diagnosing those problems has to understand what the parts of the machine--the designs and the people-- are like and how they work together to produce the outcomes. The people are the most important part, since most everything, including the designs themselves, comes from people. Unless you have a clear understanding of your machine from a higher level--and can visualize all its parts and how they work together--you will inevitably fail at this diagnosis and fall short of your potential.

At Bridgewater, the high-level goal of all of our machines is to create excellent outcomes for our clients--in the returns on their investments, of course, but also in the quality of our relationship and our thought partnership in understanding global economies and markets more broadly. Before we had anything else at Bridgewater, we had this commitment to excellence. Maintaining these extremely high standards has always been a challenge, especially as the pace of our growth and change accelerated. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Pains me to say this, but even I have changed my stance on remote.

We tried hard, developed the best tooling allowed by the tech — and still, remote falls very short of colocation, especially for startups that are still pre-product market fit. Altimor [type:: tweet]
If you're a solo/small-team, don't add any features which preclude you from taking a week off, i.e. something real-time, something complex that breaks a lot, something coupled to external systems which themselves often change/break. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I’m at a stage in my life where my goal is to pass what I’ve learned along to others, and I often get asked for my advice for young people in particular.

You’re at a stage in your life that you are just starting out on the phase in life that I’m ending. I learned some stuff that helped me that I believe can help you.

As you know, I have found that most everything happens over and over again for pretty much the same reasons, so in order to understanding anything, it pays to understand how a typical case unfolds and observe the cause-effect relationships that make it unfold that way. In this exercise, I am going to ask you to look at both the typical life arc and your own life arc and reflect on them, This exercise will help you imagine what probably will come at you, plan for it, and deal with it when it comes.

Not all life arcs are the same, and no arc is better in any way than another—they’re each their own unique journey, reflecting the circumstances faced by and decisions of the person traveling the arc—but the archetypical life lasts about 80 years and evolve in three very different phases. Even if your life arc bears little resemblance to the typical one, my hope is that you’ll find value in reflecting on your journey.

I suggest that you get a few pieces of paper and a pen, copy the basic arc, and put a tick where you are with “me” next to it. Looking through these phases, now how the descriptions of what’s happening to the typical person match up with your own experiences, especially at the critical junctures. The choices you make at these junctures have big implications on the life that you will have. As you will see, the paths we take along the way affect the type of journey we have.

This perspective has helped me and many people I have shared it with, and I hope it will help you too. If you’d like to experience an interactive version of the exercise, you can in the free Principles in Action app here: https://t.co/VsYkrX8NaT RayDalio [type:: tweet]
If you aren’t sure, another 100 opinions willl only make you less sure. Ultimately you have to ask yourself. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
I created a vector database of all my Readwise highlights using OpenAI’s embeddings API.

It's an amazing way to semantically search anything I've highlighted in the past. I can also look at "similar" quotes that may not even have any overlapping works, but similar concepts. https://t.co/Ptlq32dta2 maxolson [type:: tweet]
One of the most valuable pieces of startup-advice I got was:

“Build something for yourself. Build something you want to use every day” — by @Conaw in ~2019.

This mindset fuels a profound understanding of user needs, genuine passion, swift iterations, and lasting motivation. JohannesMutter [type:: tweet]
No matter how complete any project or plan, there will always be things that come out of nowhere and look like the most important or urgent or attractive thing to focus on. These shiny objects may be traps that will distract you from thinking in a machinelike way, so be on your guard for them and don't let yourself be seduced. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Distribution > Product asmartbear [type:: tweet]
for everything I want, the price is intensity

But instead of doing "the obvious thing, with high intensity"

I look for "the secret strategy" in business, fitness, life... Stupid!

The past 30 days, I've made so much progress by realizing "intensity is the strategy" ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
I want tech to be simpler, less obtrusive, to be light on its feet, to melt away, to blend into my life. kocienda [type:: tweet]
Canva:

$1.5 Billion in ARR
135 million monthly users
Sixth year of profitability

Not too shabby! jasonlk [type:: tweet]
** Hiring without a process.

For the longest time (2004-2015) my hiring process was:

Spend an hour w/ candidate->trust my intuition->make a hire.

No references, no metrics, no funnel. No nothing.

Bad hires, especially in leadership spots, have cost me millions.

All my fault. girdley [type:: tweet]
I learn much better with diagrams than with a long text.

If you're like me, this short guide is for you.

Draw diagrams for any subject using AI: https://t.co/ptPieCA3Wi itsPaulAi [type:: tweet]
I like roadmaps as "Now / Next / Later." Communication without too much commitment.

But, you're still naming specific features; what if you change your mind?

So, perhaps even better:

Now / Probable / Possible

Still communicate ideas, but easier to change. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@asmartbear Already seeing intent play a bigger part in ranking, matching your content to the actual user goal rather than just matching the keywords chrisgarrett [type:: tweet]
@Duderichy This is my favorite animation!!! I have it bookmarked on my phone for parties. Such a whitepill on past 40 years. https://t.co/hScqcrooJr eshear [type:: tweet]
Whatever people don't like doing, but HAVE to (regardless why), is could be an opportunity for a product or service.

Either make it so they don't have to do it, or so it takes 1/10th the time/energy/attention. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
It’s has truly nothing to do with 2hr battery life. The apps & marketing pitch is awful even if it had 24 HR battery life…. This is not a painkiller.
Platforms don’t become useful products. Useful products become platforms… tfadell [type:: tweet]
The more features you add, the more customers might decide your tool does "everything I need."

And also the more cluttered and confusing it often gets.

You might need to decide which end of the spectrum is best for your product, market, and personal proclivity. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
If you keep getting bogged down in details, you either have a problem with managing or training, or you have the wrong people doing the job. The real sign of a master manager is that he doesn't have to do practically anything. Managers should view the need to get involved in the nitty-gritty as a bad sign.

At the same time, there's danger in thinking you're delegating details when you're actually being too distant from what's important and essentially are not managing. Great managers know the difference. They strive to hire, train, and oversee in a way in which others can superbly handle as much as possible on their own. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Slack only charges for active users, not "users," not "logins."

That's price-to-value, not price-to-what-is-easy or price-to-what-we-might-get-away-with.

Good lesson. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
People often mock the aggressive overconfidence of startup founders. But some version of this is exactly what startups require. You don't start successful startups by being diffident. paulg [type:: tweet]
🧪How to measure experimentations? — from Notion AI engineer @thesephist

For high variance, low structure experimentations, the artifact/measurement shouldn’t be code/releases

But a map of explored space — checks and Xs of what works, what doesn’t

Record the decisions, prototypes & docs that explore the problem/solution space.

Thanks @RethinkTalks for hosting such an inspiring and intimate dinner eugenechantk [type:: tweet]
When you’ve built the wrong product that solves an unimportant problem or you’ve chosen to build the wrong features or you’ve chosen the wrong customer segments, no amount of sorcery on “go-to-market” is going to fix your woes.

But that doesn’t stop some product leaders (under whose leadership said product was built) from managing optics impeccably and (intentionally or unintentionally) complicating things to point at:

a) GTM alignment

b) adoption incentives & growth tactics

c) more deployment resources

d) infra / cross-team dependencies

e) or, the next big feature

as the silver bullet that will unlock amazing growth next quarter / next half / next year.

These product leaders appear at QBR after QBR with superb slides / docs, which are customized perfectly to appeal to the biases of the company’s senior executives and / or the company’s stated operating values.

Some executives, especially those who don’t have extremely high Product Sense, get manipulated by this show (and it is a show).

The other execs (including the profoundly gifted founder or product-focused CEO) often satisfice, thinking that “the team is doing everything it can”, “we’ve invested too much to give up now”, and “the alternative of firing the product leader feels worse”.

And so this show goes on for quarters and quarters & years and years. The emperor has no clothes but sadly the spectators can’t see, speak, nor kill the show. shreyas [type:: tweet]
Naming your fear is huge unlock and something I try to force myself to do on a regular basis.

Excellent inaugural newsletter for In The Trenches Shane___Martin [type:: tweet]
Piotr Karwatka (@piotrkarwatka) presents 4 strategies for open-source monetization:
1. Consulting,
2. Open Core,
3. Cloud,
4. Mixed Model.
https://t.co/ZJ9ZrxghjZ tomik99 [type:: tweet]
First-time founders: What is the most impactful advice you’ve gotten so far? hnshah [type:: tweet]
We're big fans of ClickHouse at PostHog.

Over the years, we've built a lot of expertise and systems related to it.

To formalize and share these, we're launching HouseWatch, an open-source suite of tools for monitoring and managing ClickHouse.

https://t.co/hJzGfFBlDh posthog [type:: tweet]
Wdrożenie hiszpańskiej wersji panelu Brand24 dla krajów hiszpańskojęzycznych podniosło konwersję na sprzedaż z 1.2% na 1.6% 🔥🇪🇸 Duża rzecz, bo w skali roku, przy aktualnym ruchu z tych regionów oznacza to pozyskanie dodatkowych 100 klientów rocznie. Brawo dla całego Zespołu! 🚀

A to dopiero początek rewolucji językowej. Przetłumaczyliśmy na razie wyłącznie panel. Teraz bierzemy się za pozostałe etapy ścieżki jaką przechodzi klient rejestrujący się w B24. Równolegle wchodzą kolejne języki (np Indonezyjski) 🔥🔥 sadek [type:: tweet]
Is marketing about explaining the problem?
Is marketing about showing the solution?
Is marketing about explaining the benefits?
Is marketing about positioning relative to competitors?

Or what is it? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Can I remind you of something?

YOU HAVE ONE LIFE

YOU HAVE ONE CHANCE TO ACTUALIZE AS MANY OF YOUR GOALS AND DREAMS AS POSSIBLE

Be unrealistically optimistic, always look for the value in the worst of times, and HUNT for the experiences that you need to grow into the type of person who is worthy of your dreams. (So many experiences that we could've used to grow pass us everyday because we're not looking)

I love & believe in you :). iantheviralguy [type:: tweet]
This conversation between Jose Mourinho (amazing soccer manager) and Dele Alli (super talented but badly inconsistent player) is one of the most inspirational pieces I’ve seen.

Worth a watch (regardless of whether you know/like soccer) https://t.co/wjboEoB13O destraynor [type:: tweet]
Things I'm doing at 43 to avoid regret when I'm 83: https://t.co/MSY83x1jlG FitFounder [type:: tweet]
How To Invest Time:
1. To-do list - Actions to complete regularly.
2. Leverage lists - Actions that work for you after completion.
Leverage Lists > To-Do Lists

If you look at the world through the leverage list frame, your actions begin to change:

To-do list = Go to the gym.
Leverage list = Book a personal trainer for 3 months.

To-do list = Train someone on the marketing team.
Leverage list = Record the training so it can be re-used whenever someone new joins.

To-do lists are time liabilities. They require willpower again in the future.

Leverage lists are time assets. They need willpower once -- and then live on in the future.

Time Investment Razor:

• If once done, the item will appear again - you're working on time liabilities.

• If once done, your future to-do list is forever shorter or easier - you're working on time assets.

Note to younger self: Invest in time assets. Reduce and avoid time liabilities.

Time management was ironically a waste of time. I should've focused more on time investments.

PS. One of my favorite things to do is copy and paste my essays into Midjourney. This is the image it produced when I fed it this essay. george__mack [type:: tweet]
"Time spent has nothing to do with job done."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Every PM should know these websites! 👇

1️⃣ useronboard .com - 100s of onboarding UX teardowns

2️⃣ product5x .com - 50 free templates + case studies + interview prep

3️⃣ hustlebadger .com - 30+ definitive guides to strategy and execution

Share it with your friends! Thanks 💜 carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
OK, we all need help on this. Let's help each other.

At least 10 times in the past month, someone has said to me:

>>> I want to talk to customers more, but they don't respond to requests for meetings, nor to surveys. What do I do? Pay them?? <<<

Let's give ideas. I'll start: asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@asmartbear Make the offer more attractive than “you do free work for me”, such as e.g. interviewing them for customer profile or podcast or similar.

You’ll spend less time talking about your app and more time talking about their business, which actually may be more useful at one’s stage. patio11 [type:: tweet]
Bryan Johnson spends $2 million a year to be 18 years old again.

In 2021, he reduced his epigenetic age by 5.1 years in 7 months (a world record)

His 13-steps for a long healthy life: https://t.co/h2ne4m44Fo ColinKeeley [type:: tweet]
When I was in my 20's I had man boobs & a big belly.

I tried every supplement & fad diet on the planet but none of it worked for me.

My friends said I'd be stuck in that fat body forever.

But I said fuck that & focused on these 7 things to get lean once & for all 👇 https://t.co/oyHDXpFGBj FitFounder [type:: tweet]
If you have time to wonder whether you have PM fit, you don’t have it.

If you can’t keep up with the orders and don’t even know why they’re coming in so fast, you have it. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@asmartbear +99

PM fit is when you are growing faster than you know why jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Stop using cardio to lose weight.

Do that shit with your diet. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
The legend is speaking facts. https://t.co/aEnisYAxvR richardyuzee [type:: tweet]
A lot of people have asked me to respond to this (and I will), but for now consider this:

Their model projects -8% real returns over the next 12 years. The worst 12 year period in market history (i.e. The Great Depression) had -2.9% real returns.

So what do you think? dollarsanddata [type:: tweet]
Andrew Huberman is the #1 health scientist.

I’ve listened to 100+ hours of his podcast and interviews.

His 7-steps for a long healthy life: https://t.co/ju8c7IjgNq ColinKeeley [type:: tweet]
Procrastination is a desire to have your future self do the things your present self want to avoid.

But guess what!?

Your future self won't want to do this any more than your present self does. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Your company should be your best product.

💬 lukemiler [type:: tweet]
This is an MRI image of 3 people:

The top is a 40 year old triathlete.
The middle is a 74 year old sedentary person.
The bottom is a 70 year old triathlete.

The dark part is the muscle and the light part is the fat.

What you see is that a 70 year old may be able to retain the same amount of muscle and bone density as a 40 year old if maintained through exercise.

If not, then you suffer the fate of the 74 year old sedentary person.

The lesson? You either use it or lose it.

Stay active and train consistently to live a long and prosperous life. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
fight back every time suggests deferring a decision to a meeting to be scheduled for next week.

sometimes there is a good reason but its quite rare. sama [type:: tweet]
If you are a man

And you can't do 30 push ups in a row you should be concerned. TheManMakerx [type:: tweet]
"The more seriously you take yourself, the unhappier you’re going to be."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
What personality or skills or attributes means you'll be a successful founder?

Hot take: Nothing.

Give me any attributes, and I’ll find someone successful who has all the opposite attributes, and unsuccessful with the same ones.

It’s not a magic set of attributes. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"Text is precise, compact, indexable, transmissible, translatable, asynchronous & quick to absorb. Intelligent, busy people prefer text."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
In the cut-throat tech world, the few who survive often have one thing in common:

They ship incredibly fast ⚡️

Staying ahead in the competitive market is the key to success.

But fast shipping doesn't mean rushing products or releasing useless features - it means being agile, flexible, and efficient in product development and release.

Startups are known for their rapid growth, and product shipping speed is a key indicator.

@paulg, co-founder of Y Combinator, suggests frequently releasing new features can predict startup success. He said:

" Mere rate of shipping new features is a surprisingly accurate predictor of startup success.

In this domain, at least, slowness is way more likely to be due to inability than prudence. The startups that do things slowly don't do them any better. Just slower. "

Why does this matter?

Simply put, when you ship quickly, you learn from your customers, iterate quicker, and identify valuable offerings for your users.

Let me share 6 simple yet unconventional strategies that can help you deliver value to your users (and you) at the speed of light.
1. Say No to Staging
Staging environments, used for testing with simulated data or unreleased interfaces, can sometimes slow down the process.

To speed this up, use a feature flag system. This lets you test a specific user experience on a subset of your users in production while still keeping things safe.

This way, you're just one click away from going live.

This approach means your engineers need to be more responsible, ensuring their features are ready and free from bugs.

The trick is to adopt a feature flab system…
1. Adopt a feature flag system
A feature flag is a way to flag a specific user experience for only a portion of your users. When you do that, you can learn from production but also be on the safe side.

If you want to be the only one to try it out, you can also only flag yourself or your company or your account, which makes it a type of staging environment without the deployment overhead.

The great thing about adopting this system is that you are always one click away from going live.

Your engineering will now know that when you ship something into the feature flag, it’s only one click away from being released by a Product Manager - usually using very simple no-code interfaces or tools like @LaunchDarkly.
1. QA Straight Away
Switching between different tasks (aka context-switching) can slow down engineers.

Instead of jumping from one task to another, implement immediate quality assurance (QA). This means checking the work right after it's done.

A quick 10-20 minute QA can speed up delivery by solving issues on the spot.

While some companies have specific QA roles, many startups find that everyone can participate in QA, creating a culture of shared responsibility and speed.
1. Minimize the Scope
A smaller scope allows you to deliver projects faster and more effectively.

The key is to dream big but start small.
Big ideas are exciting, but they often require a lot of time and resources.

By breaking projects into smaller parts and shipping them incrementally, you can accelerate overall delivery.

This strategy also allows for immediate user feedback, enabling you to make necessary adjustments quickly.

Having a clear scoping phase in your product development process can help you set your initial milestone, collect feedback promptly, and determine the next steps quicker, laying the groundwork for rapid, iterative progress.
1. Be Consistent With Changelogs
Changelogs, whether public or internal, are a great tool to help maintain your shipping pace.

Regular updates on your team's activities and what you've delivered can foster a sense of urgency and focus, effectively pushing your team to deliver quickly and consistently.

By establishing a regular cadence of updates, your team can remain accountable and motivated, knowing that their progress will be documented and communicated.

This creates momentum that can significantly speed up your shipping cycle.
1. Define Clear Engineering Ownership
Clear ownership of tasks can significantly speed up your delivery.

When engineers are responsible for solving a user's problem, they are more invested in the result, which means they’re more motivated to deliver faster.

There are fewer delays and bottlenecks because each engineer has a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities.

This approach leans more towards an engineering-driven culture, a strategy proven to boost pace in companies like Intercom and Stripe.

By empowering engineers to take ownership, you cultivate a culture of accountability and speed.

While they may seem unconventional, these five strategies can profoundly improve and speed up your delivery and ultimately drive your product's success.

In the fast-paced world of tech startups, speed is of the essence, and these strategies can help you stay ahead of the curve.

So, move forward, adopt these techniques, and watch your shipping pace skyrocket.

I hope these strategies help you as much as they've helped me and the rest of the June team.

Remember, success isn't just about having brilliant ideas; it's about bringing them to life as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

If you've discovered other strategies that work well, I'd love to hear about them! DM me 😃 and I’ll share your ideas with the rest of the world. 0zne [type:: tweet]
You shouldn't work hard to create your offer.

You should just copy and paste what your clients tell you into your offer. TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
Greatness is in the details. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Current Status https://t.co/xxpOdyn6e8 martymadrid [type:: tweet]
Such an incredibly freaking awesome breakdown of different paths to product-market fit.

All guided by different North Stars. https://t.co/9wAOCpwznZ carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
Recent realization: Successful creators all look different. Failing creators all look the same. AlexLlullTW [type:: tweet]
"Money doesn’t buy happiness - it buys freedom."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"I think children give you the unique opportunity to genuinely love something more than you love yourself. And I think that is really important for being happy because the moment you love something more than you love yourself, you're no longer self-obsessed."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Be careful. Most "products" are, in fact, projects.

9 red flags (and how it should work):
1. Large PRD: You start an initiative by documenting everything.
2. Feature factory: Implement the requirements. Don't ask why.
3. Waterfall: All the requirements are collected in the "initial phase."
4. Gatt roadmap: A time-based, feature-based roadmap.
5. No discovery: No need to validate ideas before implementing them.
6. No designer: There is no Product Designer on the team.
7. No analytics: You have no idea how people use your product.
8. Customer in charge: Powerful customer(s) make all the decisions.
9. No strategy: You try to maximize sales by satisfying all customers and grasping every opportunity.
Here is a better way:
1. Your cross-functional team is empowered to solve the problems.
2. PM, Product Designer, and Lead Engineer perform Product Discovery together. Continuously.
3. You have an outcome-based roadmap. Preferably Now-Next-Later.
4. If you commit to a date, you do it rarely and only after the Discovery. You never commit too early.
5. You manage the value, usability, feasibility, and viability risks by experimenting.
6. The riskiest assumptions are tested before the implementation.
7. Choosing, instrumenting, and tracking the right metrics is key.
8. You ship incrementally, measure the outcomes and learn from it.
9. Tradeoffs are essential. What you do, but also what you don't. You respect your market and the unique value proposition.
And if your product hasn't been launched yet:
1. Discover the market and define a unique value proposition, business model, initial vision, and strategy.
2. Test your business idea with the help of MVP prototypes. Before the implementation.
3. You define the go-to-market strategy and validate key assumptions. Messaging included.
4. You can't rely on product analytics before launching the product, so you rely more on customer interviews and data from your experiments.
5. The Product Trio performs the Initial Product Discovery, like in an existing product. You always need a Product Designer and Lead Engineer.
6. Once you ship, use product analytics and apply Continuous Product Discovery.
Hope that helps.

What are your thoughts?
P.S. It's just 1 of 6 free issues I published today in my newsletter. The link is under my profile: @PawelHuryn PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
You can make any information-heavy design look less busy through the power of emphasis and de-emphasis.

Learn more: https://t.co/ENnwR040Aa https://t.co/YnqOwlaNMd uxmovement [type:: tweet]
"Observe when you’re angry—anger is a loss of control over the situation."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
You get what you tolerate in life.

So stop tolerating “half-ass” performance from yourself.

You deserve better. richardyuzee [type:: tweet]
9 tips for misery in work & life:
1. See self as a victim
2. Complain constantly
3. Resent successful people
4. Compare habitually
5. Nitpick to feel superior
6. Assume bad intent
7. Refuse to listen to others
8. Aim to impress everyone
9. Learn only by making mistakes shreyas [type:: tweet]
"Find a relationship where you, naturally being you, makes the other person happy. And the other person, naturally being the other person, makes you happy."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
1. Choose 2 feature landscaping plants.
A grass and one other.

Plant them all over your property. Could mix in a couple others as well but there is serious power in numbers https://t.co/FWf7abyo4C hanslorei [type:: tweet]
"All in all we went from $0 to $100m to $0 because I followed the advice of the VCs."

When you raise from a VC you need to build a unicorn (aka 1B+ company) and nothing else

Doing 10M ARR? You are a failure, 50M ARR? Nope.. You failed

A lot of amazing startups implode because of this model and this is also exactly the reason why I am never that worried to compete with well-funded companies because I know the chances of them imploding are very high

@levelsio said it very well: You are just another 1/100 bet to a VC

Is all funding bad? no, I think there are interesting opportunities and now that the model is changing (I hope) we will see more "boring" investments made in companies that focus more on sustainable business models forgebitz [type:: tweet]
"The modern mind is overstimulated and the modern body is understimulated and overfed.

Meditation, exercise, and fasting restore an ancient balance."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
I find that most people (me included) cannot learn something if they're not actively looking to learn it.

So, startup/product "advice" just bounces off.

You need to already be in trouble, or actively looking to solve something, to hear it. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Coolest login screen ever! By @dsenneff.

Source code: https://t.co/sIJT5xsS1o https://t.co/x6IyCR7ikI carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
Continuous Discovery Habits has over 1,600 reviews on Amazon, with a 4.6 rating.

It's consistently the #1 recommended book in my Product Management circles.

I've had it on my desk for years. Here are my 10 favorite takeaways: https://t.co/xuzL34SnXy aakashg0 [type:: tweet]
"Karma is just you, repeating your patterns, virtues, and flaws until you finally get what you deserve."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
What's the best piece or book on how Apple works?

Particularly interested in the non-standard things they do around org design, DRI culture, and product management. Already read "Creative Selection." amasad [type:: tweet]
Easily the best breakdown of use case I've seen https://t.co/CN3aJrZ4Xl carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
I'm surprised how often I've heard the story:

"We weren't shipping. We fired the CTO. Now I'm in charge of strategy. We need to focus on shipping stuff that's valuable. I've tried setting appetites, but the team just keeps expanding the scope."

How to narrow down the scope? Sometimes they try leaning on designers to specify the solution. But then this happens:

"We go to the designers with a hypothesis, they say okay ... and then 35 interviews later, they're like 'we're not really sure'."

The way forward isn't more and more discovery. Or more "iterations" that just push off the hard decisions. The way forward is to shape more rigorously. That means putting technical and design heads together up front to wrestle with the trade-offs and unearth the technical complexities.

I'll teach how to run shaping sessions in the upcoming cohort of Shaping in Real Life in October. Ticket sales just opened today.

https://t.co/0oLLquG8VI rjs [type:: tweet]
How to make sure your content ranks 📈...

Step 1 - Find a keyword

One of the most important steps in the entire ranking process is honing in on a viable keyword.

Here's the reality - you could be the greatest writer in the world, but if you don't target any keyword, or you target the wrong keyword, you're unlikely to get organic traffic.

You'll spend hours researching, writing, formatting, inserting photos, etc. and the world will never read a single line of your content.

All that effort for NOTHING.

I learned this lesson the hard way (after researching, writing and publishing my first 10 posts).

Those posts were not targeted - they were broad.

Broad topics typically (not always) result in little to no traffic - especially for a new site.

Either no one is searching those terms directly, or they are very competitive.

You need a target.

Something at least a little bit more specific.

There are several keyword research tools out there, and lots of different ways to use them to unearth great keywords.

For this example, let's go with "Block Island Beaches" as our keyword.

Ahrefs estimates 450 traffic potential and thinks it's easy to rank for (we'll be the judge of that!).

Traffic is clearly seasonal, as evidenced by the spikes during summer months.

But at this point, based on what I see surface level, this keyword is worth investigating:

-it's getting some decent traffic
-it's potentially low competition
-it's a good article to write for Block Island (the topic I am currently covering right now for Stay New England)

Step 2 - Search the exact keyword in Google

Some people skip this step, which is nuts - I never write for a keyword without Googling it and analyzing page one first.

The very first thing I look for is layout - what is Google surfacing to the user?

From this very first check you can determine the type of content that Google values for this keyword.

I'm intending on writing a blog post, so if Google is ranking videos first, or a carousel of items to buy from, my content format (just a blog) may not be the best fit for this particular keyword.

Maybe I should add a video, or ignore this keyword altogether, etc.

This step can also help you understand a bit of the search intent. What Google is surfacing IN THEORY is what most people are looking for.

When I Google "Block Island Beach", I see a content site at the very top - good start.

If I write a blog post, with the way Google is presenting this information in search today, I have a chance to rank at the top too.

This search result page may (and will) change over time, but I'll worry about that when it does.

Step 3 - Check the titles and URLs of top ranking sites

Google has gotten better at figuring out what content is about, even if you don't use the exact keyword in the title or URL.

That said, I don't take any chances - I always use the exact keyword in both.

When your title and URL both contain the keyword, it's hard for Google to completely miss what you're trying to accomplish with your content.

Some people like to get cute here and "let Google figure it out". Not me.

If I see content ranking on page one that don't have the keyword in the URL and Title, I see that as a potential weakness and opening for me.

For our keyword "Block Island Beaches", most ranking content is doing a pretty good job of this.

One thing I noticed however is that the "Block Island Beach House" is ranking high. That's the name of a hotel.

How likely is it that a searcher who types in "Block Island Beaches" to Google is intending to find the "Block Island Beach House" hotel?

Not likely! Another good sign for me...

Step 4 - Quickly check DR of sites ranking on page 1

DR is a made up score that determines how "strong" or "authoritative" a domain is. Basically, how much does Google "trust" a site.

In theory, the higher the DR, the easier it is for them to rank content, and the harder it is for you to compete.

I say "in theory" because I, and many others, regularly outrank higher DR sites (there are several ways to do this that we'll cover in a moment).

For now, we just want to quickly see the first page landscape in regards to DR.

If every site ranking on page one was a DR 80 or higher, that would a bit of a red flag for me - I'll probably have a hard time breaking through.

Ignoring my site for now 😅 , I see DR 54 at the one spot and then DR 28, 39, and 37 sites all ranking in the top 10.

Another good sign...

Step 5 - Check the freshness of content

Google loves fresh, up-to-date content.

Don't get me wrong, just because your content is new, doesn't mean it's necessarily going to rank.

But if a lot of the content on page one is old-ish, that's yet another data point that suggests you have a real chance to rank!

Sometimes Google provides a date in the SERPs but many times it's missing.

Here's a tip to get a quick down and dirty estimate of freshness...

Type your keyword into Google and click Search. After the page loads, add this string to the end of the search page URL “&as_qdr=y15” and reload the page.

This will add the "last index date" for each page to the SERPS.

Last index date is a good rough estimate of freshness (in theory, if the content was modified recently, Google would crawl and index it again!).

When I add this string to my Google search for "Block Island Beaches" this is what I get...

Several pages last indexed in 2017! 6 years ago.

Another good sign...

Step 6 - Click into and analyze each and every site ranking on page one

The steps above (minus the keyword research) take me about 30 seconds.

But now comes the real work.

You need to open up every site ranking on page one and review their content.

How many words long is it?

Is it comprehensive?

Does it match user intent?

Original photos?

Usefulness?

How's the writing overall?

The goal here is get an objective sense of the overall quality of the content ranking on the first page.

Ultimately the question is: "Can you do better?".

Step 7 - Bringing it all together

Ok, so we found a keyword that was getting decent volume and appeared to be low competition: "Block Island Beaches".

We then searched this exact term in Google and...

-We checked the format that Google returns at the very top (blogs, videos, products, etc.)
-We checked page one to see if the exact keyword was in titles and URLs of ranking content
-We looked at the DR of each site on page one
-We checked the freshness of content on page one
-We clicked into each and every page ranking on the first page and assessed:
-Length/comprehensiveness of content
-Does it match the intent behind the search?
-How useful is the content itself?
-Original photos/content?
-How's the writing in general?

And after all of that we made a judgement call on whether or not we should write content for the keyword.

In this case I determined:
1. The competition was moderate at best and
2. I (well my wife) could create a better piece of content than anything else ranking on page one.
So we did...Stay New England currently ranks #2-3 on desktop and mobile for "Block Island Beaches".

Signing-off

You're probably looking at this process and thinking, "Wow, that seems like a ton of work just to determine whether or not it's worth writing content for a single keyword".

It is a lot of work.

But creating great content is even more work.

And if you're going to commit all that time, you better make sure your content ends up ranking.

When I sit down to write, I like to stack the deck in my favor.

I do that by following this process every single time.

The good news is that after you do this enough, the entire process becomes automatic.

You start to just get a feel for it. It gets much easier.

🫡 NicheDown [type:: tweet]
Product Management can be a framework-jungle.

Below you find some frameworks which can make your life as a PM easier!

If you want to know more about these, comment or send me a DM. https://t.co/PVCkAeOiK0 KiwiDenny [type:: tweet]
4 ways for validate your B2B startup idea:
1. The do-it-manually path
@christinacaci manually created compliance reports for a few companies and noticed (surprisingly) that they all found them very valuable. She then built @TrustVanta (last valued at $1.6B): https://t.co/5tW8zEt0xz lennysan [type:: tweet]
Kolejna nowość! 🔥 Duży upgrade funkcji porównań marek w Brand24. Dużo łatwiej o porównanie z konkurencją i szybko wrzucić je do cyklicznego podsumowania / raportu. Można łatwo zdiagnozować co wpłynęło tak drastycznie na ekspozycję Natalii Janoszek pod koniec Lipca... https://t.co/BWRKZHXYwP sadek [type:: tweet]
"You’re going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"You don't have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long, long time."

– Charlie Munger farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
Stop wasting hours looking for the perfect book, just pick one of these:

Health: Ikigai
History: Sapiens
Sales: $100M Offers
Habits: Atomic Habits
Stoicism: Meditations
Creativity: The War of Art
Productivity: The ONE Thing
Leadership: Extreme Ownership
Mental Toughness: Can't Hurt Me
Personal Finance: Just Keep Buying
Investing: The Psychology of Money
Psychology: Man's Search For Meaning
Negotiation: Never Split The Difference
Communication: How To Talk To Anyone
Entrepreneurship: The Millionaire Fastlane AlexAndBooks_ [type:: tweet]
OKRs are a simple, incredibly effective approach for setting, monitoring, and achieving your goals.

But they are commonly misunderstood.

How to start?
1. Empowered teams
OKRs work only with a culture of empowerment. In companies with a dysfunctional organizational culture, OKRs might become another tool to impose control over employees.
1. Vision and strategy
Before defining your first OKR, it's essential to establish a vision and strategy.

While the vision provides a long-term "Why," the OKR motivates and guides a team in the short term, typically over a quarter, defining:
- Why it's important.
- What we need to achieve.
- How we will measure we succeeded.
1. Start with just one team
First, get one team to try OKRs before the whole company jumps in. This team should be cross-functional, able to reach their goals without relying on others.

After a few months, celebrate what they've achieved. Hopefully, this will get other teams excited about OKRs.
1. Select just one OKR
Start with a single OKR for the entire company without cascading it down. This simplifies the implementation and allows you to identify teams that need more coaching. This is particularly effective in smaller companies.
1. Start from initiatives focused on the outputs
For example, if you're adding a new search feature, think backward. Ask yourself: What’s the goal of this initiative? How would we measure that we succeeded?

This helps you turn the task into an OKR and start thinking and making decisions based on data.
1. Keep things simple
Don't expect to figure out everything from the start. Test ideas, learn from them, and get better over time.

Based on Radical Focus by @cwodtke

P.S. In the free part of my latest newsletter (1,351 words), I described:
1. Two Approaches to OKRs
2. Why Do We Need OKRs?
3. What Exactly Are OKRs?
  3.1 Prerequisites
  3.2 How to create Objectives?
  3.3 How to create Key Results?
And in the premium part (2,440 words), we deep-dive into the OKRs:
1. OKRs: A Quarter Step-by-Step:
  4.1 How to start?
  4.2 During the quarter + my advice
  4.3 Closing the quarter
2. OKRs: Best Practices and Common Mistakes
3. OKRs: Advanced Techniques
  6.1 OKRs and Scrum
  6.2 OKRs and Product Roadmap
  6.3 OKRs and Continuous Product Discovery
  6.4 Extending the traditional OKRs
  6.5 OKRs vs. alternatives
Hope that helps.

You can keep learning here: https://t.co/8iIHE1xXpQ PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
"All modern diseases are diseases of abundance. We punish ourselves by constantly entertaining our minds and bodies."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Nike staff memo from 1977. https://t.co/s43hlfFKvn JonErlichman [type:: tweet]
"The measure of wealth is freedom. The measure of health is lightness. The measure of intellect is judgment. The measure of wisdom is silence. The measure of love is peace."
@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"You make money to solve your money and material problems. I think the best way to stay away from this constant love of money is to not upgrade your lifestyle as you make money."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
I have my guiding motto on a wall in my house. It’s a quote from George Bernard Shaw that says: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

I am not sure about other entrepreneurs, but for me being unreasonable is a difficult thing. Like many others, I struggle with wanting to be liked.

So seeing this on my wall every day when I wake up serves as a reminder to not worry about conforming, and to persist. Because without it, companies such as Spotify and many others wouldn't exist. eldsjal [type:: tweet]
"If there's one thing that we should be teaching kids, it's how to fight addiction. How not to get addicted to stuff. Because that is where it's all headed."

https://t.co/hvgMTF0UEV paulg [type:: tweet]
"I’m not going to be the most successful person on the planet, nor do I want to be. I just want to be the most successful version of myself while working the least hard possible."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The reason you're scared to make that decision is: What if you're wrong?

Sure, but will delaying change your risk level of being wrong? Really?

If yes, then go do that.

But it's probably "no," in which case just make the decision so you can reap the benefits sooner. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Every engineer complains about tech debt.

If you're not technical, these complaints are hard to understand.

Try using this table with:
• Type of tech debt
• Causes
• Mitigation
• Long-term impact

It will give you context to have more productive conversations. https://t.co/lg49qwFEvT carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
literally all I want in life is to marry the love of my life and move into a cute little house in the countryside and eat dinner together every day and build a b2b saas company that vertically integrates in a highly fragmented, low nps industry while generating shareholder value roshanpateI [type:: tweet]
A good life is not a life without suffering.

A good life is a life of meaningful suffering. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Want to be great to work with?

Do what you said you were going to do.

It's unbelievable how rare this trait is. https://t.co/KD7uxWOAij lukemiler [type:: tweet]
Product Management is not about:
- Asking customers about the requirements
- Writing detailed specifications
- Creating prototypes and wireframes
- Assigning tasks to developers
- Verifying and accepting the work of others
- Obsessing over velocity, deadlines, and roadmaps
- Mastering Scrum to perfection
- Acting like the CEO of the product
Anyone can do that.

It's about:
- Understanding customer's problems, needs, and desires
- Understanding the market and the business in depth
- Collaborating closely with engineers and designers
- Identifying opportunities, ideating solutions, and tackling the risks together
- Marrying customer goals and business goals
- Influencing others to work toward the common goal
- Being humble (it's ok not to be the smartest person in the room)
- Experimenting to validate assumptions
- Leading without authority
- Turning chaos into clarity
Start with these questions:
- Why are we building this thing?
- Why are we building it now?
- For whom are we building it?
- What's the unique value of our product?
- How is it aligned with the company's vision?
- How is it aligned with the business strategy?
- What does success look like? How can we measure it?
- What are the customer needs/jobs (functional, emotional, social)?
- How will it affect our customers and users?
- How will it create value for the business?
- Can we buy it instead of building it?
- How can we make sure that our customers would love it?
- Will our customers know how to use it?
- Can our business support it (e.g., legal, finances)?
- Is it feasible? Can we build it?
- How can we bring it to the market? Do we have the required channels?
- Should we do it at all? Are there any ethical considerations?
- What are the riskiest assumptions? How can we validate them?
- What does the data tell us?
- How can we get maximum validating learning with minimum effort?
Be curious. Learn and experiment. Question solutions and push back on things handled down.

Remember that product management is about creating a "product customers love, yet also works for our business" (Marty Cagan, Inspired), not about pleasing stakeholders.

After 9 years, I'm still learning daily, and I do not know everything, but I can give you my perspective on any questions you have.

Drop them below. PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
“When a man can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.” — Viktor Frankl RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Money buys you freedom in the material world. It’s not going to make you happy, it’s not going to solve your health problems, it’s not going to make ur family great, it’s not going to make you fit,it’s not going to make you calm.But it will solve a lot of external problems
@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The real value of your initial product is the feedback loop it creates tlbtlbtlb [type:: tweet]
Amazing how quickly focus can shift from "delivering to customers" to "persuading other team to do something" as a company grows

One of the most insidious viruses that can infect a company gauravvohra1 [type:: tweet]
Taking risk is a job. shl [type:: tweet]
One of my favorite quotes from Ogilvy: “The problem with market research is people don't think how they feel, they don't say what they think and they don't do what they say.”

You can’t survey your way into every solution. You still need to develop your own point of view. wes_kao [type:: tweet]
"I don’t believe in hierarchical relationships. I don’t want to be above anybody, and I don’t want to be below anybody. If I can’t treat someone like a peer and if they can’t treat me like peer, I just don’t want to interact with them."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
You work for others until you can work for yourself.

You work for yourself until you can work for others. naval [type:: tweet]
When people copy you, the best strategy is usually to ignore them. People who copy you are (a) unoriginal and (b) opportunists, and those are both strong predictors of failure. If you wait them out, they'll eventually drop away. paulg [type:: tweet]
Our Building of Basecamp workshop from nearly 20 years ago spoke the truth 😄 https://t.co/jIHOhoGxMD dhh [type:: tweet]
Huge shoutout to all the writers who crammed their years of wisdom into 100+ pages. You saved me from years of trial and error. https://t.co/PFUkf1hKjE dannypostmaa [type:: tweet]
“The person you marry is the person you fight with. The house you buy is the house you repair. The dream job you take is the job you stress over. Everything comes with an inherent sacrifice—whatever makes us feel good will also inevitably make us feel bad.” — @IAmMarkManson ChrisWillx [type:: tweet]
The less energy we waste regretting the past or worrying about the future, the more energy we will have for what’s in front of us. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Strategy + Discovery + Delivery

(Yes, another diagram that will send you scrambling to inspect or create new artifacts) https://t.co/IMJickilv8 nurijanian [type:: tweet]
That "working through it" period is when you try out different processes and people, seeing what goes well or poorly, learning from the iterations, and moving toward the ideal systematic design. Even with a good future design picture in mind, it will naturally take some mistakes and learning to get to a good "then" state.

People frequently complain about this kind of iterative process because it tends to be true that people are happier with nothing at all than with something imperfect, even though it would be more logical to have the imperfect thing. That kind of thinking doesn't make sense, so don't let it distract you. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
A product manager who doesn't QA their own products is like a chef who doesn't taste their own food. https://t.co/jlfy5T7aMx carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
The evolution from the Brahmi numeral system through the Arabic numeral system to the one used in Europe in XV and XVI century https://t.co/HRNOp2v90I Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
The most underrated secret to success.

You say you will do a thing, then you actually do the thing.

90% do not do this. Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
CEOs / Executives:
When you freak out about a team missing their launch date by a week or a few weeks, you should know that freaking out (or punishing this team) will not actually achieve the outcome you want.

This also applies if you appreciate a team very publicly mainly for hitting their committed date.

I know you want a culture of speed, sense of urgency, execution discipline, set an example, etc. etc. but in practice you will almost certainly get the opposite of that if you do these things.

Why?
Unintended consequences.

From now on, every team — wanting to avoid punishment & seeking your appreciation — will start padding their schedules and creating a perception of greater complexity to justify the schedules.

This in turn will slow things down a lot more, company-wide.

Plus, despite heavily padding the schedule, it’s not like these teams are going sometimes launch a project early. Because of Parkinson’s Law (“work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion”), these teams will still struggle to barely hit the padded date they committed to.

This is not intuitive to some executives. They have forgotten how first-level & mid-level managers will respond to incentives and disincentives set by the execs and the CEO.

What to do?
You must learn to see the odd missed date as an acceptable cost of setting ambitious goals and aggressive deadlines. If you want teams to move as fast as they can, you must be tolerant of the occasional missed date.

(it is a different matter if there is an external customer / partner / regulator / analyst / Wall Street commitment for a given launch date — in most companies, for most launches, this is not the case) shreyas [type:: tweet]
ICYMI - I think the traditional MVP is selfish and isn't the best way to iterate into great software. Use SLC instead:

https://t.co/kP9eSQUSWS asmartbear [type:: tweet]
There are three levels of knowing:

1.Simplicity—the child’s view
2.Complexity—the adult’s view
3.Informed Simplicity—the enlightened view of reality

The beautiful part of arriving at Informed Simplicity is you get to travel. https://t.co/Ryau6L2zHP BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
B2B: the shittier the product, the more services you must provide.

the more services you provide, the worse your product scales.

the worse your product scales, the fewer customers you can address.

the fewer customers you can address, the more expensive you must make the price. blader [type:: tweet]
It goes against all intuition & emotional defaults but I find the best way to destress when facing a problem is to run directly at the problem as fast as possible TrevMcKendrick [type:: tweet]
Pick one thing from your long to-do list that you really can just scratch off and never do, and delete it.

(If it's truly important, it will reappear, don't worry.) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Open source software has evolved from a movement into a big business. Gitlab, Confluent, Databricks, MongoDB, Elastic, Snyk, Hashicorp, Mulesoft, have become huge companies using open source software.

Across, just these they have generated about $100b in market cap.

Early on, open source pioneers viewed software freedom as an end unto itself. They encouraged permissive licensing so anyone could use, modify, and distribute their code.

Fast forward to today : open source has become a go-to market strategy for many software startups because it presents a powerful antidote to monotonically increasing acquisition costs.

In the early days of an open source project, broad licenses like the MIT or Apache licenses, which empower users to use the software in almost any way, encourage adoption. Open source is a marketing strategy that fills the top of the sales funnel with users who may later convert to paying customers.

But over time, tension emerges between the company and its community. These permissive licenses might enable competitors to offer competing products or clouds to host managed versions. Sometimes, the open source software’s capabilities are powerful enough to satisfy potentially paying users.

As an open-source startup matures, many open source companies change their licensing. Elastic, MongoDB, & Gitlab started with open source, but later added restrictions to convert community users into paying customers & prevent clouds from offering competing products.

The community backlash is predictable. Developers lament the death of free software. But from a business perspective, this progression is logical.

Companies a transition from one pricing model to another : Open source marketing strategy achieves penetration early on. At scale, startups pivot to maximization to extract the most dollars from their customers.

This transition typically occurs when a technology has entered the early / late majority stage of technology diffusion. Revenue is concentrated in the top accounts & future growth lies in those enterprises, too. This focus up-market creates opportunity for new startups to repeat the cycle with less restrictive licenses. ttunguz [type:: tweet]
The Best of the Best about Product Roadmaps just for you!

Articles, blog posts, podcasts, videos, tweets and books.

Get access to this crazy overview with linked sources!

Like + Retweet + Reply "Roadmaps"
(Follow so I can send the link) https://t.co/6Z82vNEAKd KiwiDenny [type:: tweet]
"In any situation in life, you always have three choices: you can change it, you can accept it, or you can leave it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Peter Thiel: Distribution should be part of product design https://t.co/DuEWRGF6xo FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
"I, and I alone, am responsible for everything I think and feel."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Rules for a peaceful life:
1. Avoid drama
2. If you like drama, look for it in someone else's life -- lots of movies / shows / books out there and there's no shortage of it on the internet (don't contribute tho) joulee [type:: tweet]
95% wzrostu zysku operacyjnego Brand24 w H1 2023. W pierwszym półroczu zrobiliśmy 2,7 mln zł EBIT. Przychody urosły o 27% r/r, ale chcemy rosnąć jeszcze szybciej. Dobrze też zapowiada się Q3, bo na wakacje zrobiliśmy nowe rekordy sprzedaży (mimo, że wakacje są typowo słabsze). Oczywiście dużo jeszcze zależy od Września i retencji, ale jesteśmy dobrej myśli. Zmiany produktowe przynoszą efekty. Strategia przesuwania portfolio w stronę większych (ale nie największych) firm przynosi konkretne efekty. Brawo dla całego Zespołu! 🔥❤️ sadek [type:: tweet]
What is one belief or strategy you have adopted that has made your life easier? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
@JamesClear I am responsible for everything that happens to me in my life, whether or not it's my fault.

Changed everything. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
10 ideas from David Ogilvy:
1. Search all the parks in all your cities; you'll find no statues of committees.
2. In the best companies promises are always kept, whatever it may cost in agony and overtime.
3. Don't bunt. Aim out of the park. Aim for the company of immortals.
1. Only First Class business, and that in a First Class way.
2. Chef did not tolerate incompetence. He knew that it is demoralising for professionals to work alongside incompetent amateurs.
3. Pay peanuts and you get monkeys.
7. I admire people who work hard, who bite the bullet.
1. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, I beg you to find another job. Remember the Scottish proverb, "Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead."
9. Big ideas are usually simple ideas.
1. You aren't advertising to a standing army; you’re advertising to a moving parade. FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
An important lesson everyone needs to hear:

Focus on direction—not speed.

It’s better to climb slowly up the RIGHT mountain than to climb fast up the WRONG one!

The Paradox of Speed: Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.

The benefits of slowing down are extensive:

• Focus on high leverage opportunities
• Be more deliberate with direction
• Restore energy + avoid burnout
• Notice things you previously missed

I’ve fallen into the “Speed Trap” on several occasions:

Climbing as fast as I could, only to get to the top of the mountain and realize I climbed the wrong one...

It’s a terrible feeling—one that can be avoided by focusing on direction first, speed second.

Remember: Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
“Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’” — Marcus Aurelius RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
"Smart partners negotiate fair deals because they know that lopsided deals are fragile and that most value accumulates in long term trust relationships.

You can tell a lot about a potential partner by their opening offer."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
5 habits that are killing your productivity:

1/ You don’t wake up early (Marcus Aurelius)
2/ You focus on what’s outside your control (Epictetus)
3/ You’re in the wrong crowd (Marcus Aurelius)
4/ You don’t know how to say “no” (Seneca)
5/ You think you’ll live forever (Seneca) RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Your title means nothing, what you’ve shipped means everything. BrianNorgard [type:: tweet]
Using this feature has made a huge improvement to my ChatGPT experience. The answers it gives are so much more useful. Great feature add!

Here are my custom instructions in case it helps/inspires you:

My name is Kent C. Dodds. I live in Utah, USA. I'm an experienced Web Developer. I build and sell courses on full stack web development. Some tools I use regularly include:
- TypeScript
- Node.js
- Remix (the web framework)
- SQLite
- Tailwind
- React
Here's my prettier config:

I prefer function declarations over function expressions.

I prefer: thing ? 'whatever' : null over thing && 'whatever' (especially in JSX).

I like descriptive TypeScript type names (no one-letter type names for me). I also prefer the Array generic over the bracket syntax.
- Be casual unless otherwise specified
- Call me "Kent"
- Be terse
- Suggest solutions that I didn’t think about—anticipate my needs
- Treat me as an expert
- Be accurate and thorough
- Give the answer immediately. Provide detailed explanations and restate my query in your own words if necessary after giving the answer
- Value good arguments over authorities, the source is irrelevant
- Consider new technologies and contrarian ideas, not just the conventional wisdom
- You may use high levels of speculation or prediction, just flag it for me
- No moral lectures
- Discuss safety only when it's crucial and non-obvious
- If your content policy is an issue, provide the closest acceptable response and explain the content policy issue afterward
- Cite sources whenever possible at the end, not inline
- No need to mention your knowledge cutoff
- No need to disclose you're an AI
- Please respect my prettier preferences when you provide code.
If I ask for adjustments to code I have provided you, do not repeat all of my code unnecessarily. Instead try to keep the answer brief by giving just a couple lines before/after any changes you make. Multiple code blocks are ok.

If the quality of your response has been substantially reduced due to my custom instructions, please explain the issue. kentcdodds [type:: tweet]
22 Truths I Wish I Knew At 22
1. Most of your friends aren't really your friends. Real friends are there for you when you have nothing to offer. Cherish them.
2. Success in life is proportional to the number of difficult conversations you're willing to have.
(a visual thread) https://t.co/LWr4JRFGKA SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Walter Isaacson on the link between suffering and greatness and those with happy childhoods:

“We grow up with fewer demons but we grow up with less drive. We end being Boswell and not Johnson. We end up being the observer and not the doer. Respect those who are in the arena…”

A few years ago, I learned that Jobs, Ellison, Musk and Bezos have one central thing in common: abandonment, estrangement or abuse by their fathers. Issacson writes the same about Leonardo da Vinci: he was illegitimate in a time where that meant ostracism. Many political leaders — Clinton, Obama, etc— have similar stories of turning abandonment into drive.

We are afraid to talk about how deep suffering often is essential for leadership and greatness —it is likely the common thread in creating real progress and achievement throughout history. KTmBoyle [type:: tweet]
Agreed. What I didn’t say and should have is that the other common thread for many of these men: incredible mothers. Bezos speaks about how his mother took him as an infant to her classes at community college, promising he wouldn’t cry during the lectures.

Children need someone to help them turn tragedy into resilience. KTmBoyle [type:: tweet]
Jesus lord bless up i added the ChatGPT custom instructions to my taste and it works so damn good im in love. This has solved so many of my complaints w chatgpt

My instructions:
"Speak in specific, topic relevant terminology. Do NOT hedge or qualify. Do not waffle. Speak directly and be willing to make creative guesses. Explain your reasoning.

Be willing to reference less reputable sources for ideas.

Be willing to form opinions on things." seconds_0 [type:: tweet]
The Difference Between Urgent and Important

Urgent tasks are time-sensitive and require attention. These tasks can be anything from responding to emails, returning phone calls, or even picking up groceries on the way home so you can eat dinner.

Important tasks, on the other hand, move us forward with vision and meaning. They are the things we want to get done but also bring us meaning because they are aligned with our values and goals. They are deliberate and often require focused attention.

We tend to feel stressed and overwhelmed when we focus on urgent but unimportant tasks. While these things are easy to check off our list, when left undone, there are little to no consequences.

The key to productivity is doing more of what matters and less of what doesn't. The people who do this best are the ones who consistently understand what is urgent and important and eliminate the rest. By concentrating their mental and physical energy in the right place, they dramatically improve their impact.

Reducing the surface area of your attention means asking yourself the difficult question of whether what you are doing really matters to the outcome you want.

If you are ruthless, you can eliminate 20-40% of what you are doing today without impacting the most important things. All that time you save can then be invested in the most important things.

The problem is that it's a difficult question to ask and answer honestly.

Admitting you're doing something that doesn't matter means you've been wasting your time up to now. It's much easier to keep doing what we've been doing and tell ourselves that if we just had one more productivity hack, we'd make more progress.

Being busy and being productive are not the same thing. It's easy to be busy. It's hard to be productive.

The real "work" of productivity is less about improving efficiency and more about improving effectiveness.

Being productive is not about doing more; it's about concentrating all your energy on the few things that matter. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
The good news about joining a tiny startup is you will interface directly with the CEO on a regular basis

Sometimes even as a peer

The "bad" news is that CEO will hold you to a pretty darn high standard jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"Find a relationship where you, naturally being you, makes the other person happy. And the other person, naturally being the other person, makes you happy."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Don’t live in peace, live in truce with all of your conflicting desires. naval [type:: tweet]
If your team always asks "why?", they don't get your strategy.

So what can you do?

(Hint: it's not showing them the roadmap.)

🧵👇 https://t.co/y5wp0F95iY carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
From 1980 to 2014, a JP Morgan study found:

▪️ 40% of stocks lose money
▪️ 64% of stocks underperform
▪️ ~7% of stocks accounted for nearly ALL of the gains

One reason indexing investing works so well is all of this chaos is invisible BrianFeroldi [type:: tweet]
Best way to get better and go faster is to work from the real thing. Not mockups, not wireframes, not sketches, not descriptions... Build, use, repair, refine. Real reveals what fake obscures. Get real, move faster, build better. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
One of the most consistent mistakes I made when I was younger was to spend my time learning about things that other people thought were interesting — things that were cool or prestigious — instead of trusting my own curiosity. paulg [type:: tweet]
If you have a new product trying to break into a mature market, you should spend a lot of time on how to reduce switching costs, as that might be a larger barrier even than sales and marketing. Maybe even offer to switch manually for the customer, or pay off their contracts. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Every day, for over a year, the only thing I listened to on my drive to work was this speech.

It changed my life.

I still use its lessons every single day.

We made an abridged video version of it, to help spread the word:

https://t.co/v8AzIFSJwt awilkinson [type:: tweet]
If every day it’s a struggle to find customers it’s not working yet.

If every day it's a struggle to keep up with demand, it's working.

That's the difference of "Product/Market fit." asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The most accurate Idea to Product chart I've ever seen.

(It's supposed to be messy.) https://t.co/ggnx7MzcqW carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
Glad I don't build products for cats... or do I? https://t.co/5ZpGGWMuli carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
Nice model for assessing speed vs quality https://t.co/YVkesjiPJF carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
Prototypes are the most powerful way to validate product ideas.

Here's a complete breakdown of 10 ways to validate your prototypes + save yourself from wasting weeks of time: https://t.co/nGqVyMBqSI carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
A friendly reminder to stop trying to optimize your life. https://t.co/fo0zZP4YAI dollarsanddata [type:: tweet]
"Value your time. It is all you have. It’s more important than your money. It’s more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Leverage in an organization is not unlike leverage in the markets; you're looking for ways to achieve more with less. At Bridgewater, I typically worked at about 50:1 leverage, meaning that for every hour I spent with each person who worked for me, they spent about fifty hours working to move the project along. At our sessions, we would go over the vision and the deliverables, then they'd work on them, and then we'd review the work, and they'd move forward based on my feedback—and we'd do that over and over again. The people who worked for me typically had similar relationships with those who worked for them, though their ratios were typically between 10:1 and 20:1. I am always eager to find people who can do things nearly as well as (and ideally better than) I can so that I can maximize my output per hour.

Technology is another great tool for providing leverage. To make training as easy to leverage as possible, document the most common questions and answers through audio, video, or written guidelines, and then assign someone to organize them and incorporate them into a manual, which is updated on a regular basis.

Principles themselves are a form of leverage—they're a way to compound your understanding of situations so that you don't need to exert the same effort each time you encounter a problem. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Relationships end because people don't talk.

They assume, they react, but they don't actually have difficult conversations.

Why Talking Can Save Relationships: Theholisticpsyc [type:: tweet]
Designers only "hand-off" designs to engineers to build on waterfall teams.

On agile teams, it's a constant back and forth between the two, like passing a hot potato.

(PMs often help with the passing.) https://t.co/exWmokd3U2 carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
Great visual for seeing how:
• Strategy
• Goals
• Roadmap
• Sprints

All tie into each other. https://t.co/DLSd2tYhGA carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
20 years in building companies taught me: speed is king.

Moving fast is a miracle drug. Here's why:

→ You learn more about the end-state product per unit time.

There is no team able to accurately predict every future product need. Having an iterative product schedule will solve for this.

→ Achieves a more robust product.

If I had to summarize technology development: it's how many iterations you have done and then how much progress you've made b/t those iterations.

→ Helps prioritize what's important.

Speeds means you only have time for the priority matters. There is no time for things that don't matter.

→ Time is what will kill your company.

P.S. Moving fast is so important to me that it's a corporate value at Figure. adcock_brett [type:: tweet]
“Few people want to be saints nowadays, but everyone is trying to lose weight.” —Rene Girard https://t.co/TOwMPHVJD4 lukeburgis [type:: tweet]
"Looking back, the best outcomes came from pure actions, without motive."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you're AB testing at a startup, you're doing it wrong:
1. For AB tests to be stat sig, you usually need tons of time and data.
2. Talking to customers is much more efficient for hitting PMF.
3. Holding out 5% and comparing after some time is faster + more reliable. carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
"A happy person isn’t someone who’s happy all the time. It’s someone who effortlessly interprets events in such a way that they don’t lose their innate peace."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
In order to apply most of your energy in one direction, you have to say no to things that a lot of other people say yes to.

Most successful people are masters at eliminating the unnecessary from their lives. farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
every time you think you're a good programmer remember that roller coaster 2 was programmed entirely in assembly with no bugs by only one guy sabrinaesaquino [type:: tweet]
I'm a big fan of @ravi_mehta's product competency chart.

Whenever trying to choose what I want to learn next, I look to this chart to see the areas I think I'm weakest.

It's also a good thing to run through with your manager to find areas of improvement. https://t.co/tnhBjrHELu carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
The secret that underlies most successful entrepreneurs:

The ability to switch back and forth between the creative mind and the constant grind.

Again, and again, and again. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
"Knowing how little you matter is very important for your own mental health and happiness."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"To measure the quality of your life, simply do nothing, and see how it feels."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
The next time a customer says something like "that's just what I wanted," instead of only taking the complement, dive in with them and find out exactly why that is.

Problem? JTBD? Failure of alternative? Cost? Delight?

That's your magic. Focus on that. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Stakeholders always want your team's velocity to be higher.

This is super stressful when you're already at full speed.

But remember, you can ship things that aren't features.

Here's an overview of 6 things you can ship (with no devs) to accelerate learning and show progress. https://t.co/jzVXNlRpgp carlvellotti [type:: tweet]
@patrickc on Stripe:
“My intuition is that more of Stripe success than one would think is down to the fact that people like beautiful things and for rational reasons.

Because, what does a beautiful thing tell you? It tells you the person who made it really cared, and you can observe some superficial details, but probably they didn’t only care about those and did everything in else in slapdash way.

So, if you care about the infrastructure being holistically good, indexing on the superficial characteristics is not an irrational thing to do.“

Couldn't have said better and proud to have Patrick as an investor in @linear.

We shouldn't accept poorly made things and that lack beauty. karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
"Decisions:

• If you can’t decide, the answer is no.

• If two equally difficult paths, choose the one more painful in the short term (pain avoidance is creating an illusion of equality).

• Choose the path that leaves you more equanimous in the long term."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
You don't need more employees, you need a better business model.

I know people who make $1M/year+ with no payroll.

One way to do it is something called "Productized Services."

Ever heard of Designjoy?

Here's how he leveraged this framework (so you can steal his homework):

In 2017, Brett Williams decided he wanted more than his 9-5 design job.

But he didn’t want to be another freelancer fighting for penny-pinching clients.

Nor did he want to start an agency managing people and sending all profit to payroll.

But what's the other option?

Productized services.

You take a service, and standardize your offering to all customers:
• Same price
• Clearly defined scope of work

For Brett, this was Design-as-a-Service:

It's like Netflix for design: You pay a monthly subscription – but instead of unlimited Stranger Things re-watches, you get unlimited graphic design requests.

The keyword here is “unlimited.”

Whether you make 5 requests a month or 50, the price stays the same (but only one request at a time).

Why does this model work so well?

The cost of finding, interviewing, training, compensating, and managing new graphic designers is through the roof.

But with Designjoy?

All you have to do is buy a subscription, then forget you ever did.

So how does Brett swing being Designjoy's ONLY employee?
1. NO meetings.
Aside from a 15min discovery call before signing up, you never see Brett’s face again. Ever.

You might be wondering how a company doesn't implode if it has zero contact with its clients...

It all comes down to leveraging tools.

To field design requests, Brett uses a method so simple it’ll make you cry…

Trello. That's it.

On signup, clients get their own Trello board where they log design requests.

On the backend, Brett views these requests and fulfills them in 30 minutes to 48 hours – completely async.
1. Cutting out red tape
A traditional agency's onboarding process:

Visit website > Book call > Wait 1+ days before meeting > Set follow-up call > Finalize price/scope of project > Sign contract > Begin project.

I lost my patience just writing that...

But with DesignJoy?

You go from 1st-time visitor to paying client in 30 seconds.

No meetings. No contracts. No bullsh*t.
1. Speed
Brett is good at what he does. Period.

He services ~20 clients every month, solo. At $5k per client, that’s up to $1.3M in ARR.

So… How can you replicate this?

3 things you need:

• A skill/service.
• SPEED in performing that skill.
• A niche offer within the skill to set yourself apart.

Check out this list to get the gears turning:

PS – If this kind of stuff interests you, highly recommend following @BrettFromDJ to watch along as he builds. Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
Patrick Collison, Stripe CEO, on why quality matters:

"If Stripe is a monstrously successful business but what we make isn't beautiful and Stripe doesn't embody a culture of incredibly exacting craftsmanship, I'll be much less happy.

My intuition is that more of Stripe's success than one would think is downstream of the fact that people like beautiful things.

Because what does a beautiful thing tell you?

Well, it tells you the person who made it really cared." petergyang [type:: tweet]
If design is art, plus constraint, then strategy is business design, which is inspiration plus constraint.

The decisions you make, both the + and - consequences of that, are the constraints

These are often called enabling constraints.

Articulate, and accept them. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Primer on how we design at @linear:

The main point is that the design is only a reference, never any kind of deliverable itself, so the way it's constructed doesn't really matter.
1. We screenshot the app and design on top of
2. Simple design system that has mostly colors, type and some basic components (rest you can screenshot/recreate)
3. We have one design file each quarter, each person creates a page in it for their projects (easier to see what others are working on)
4. Naming layers, using auto layout, components is up to the designer if they want to use them or not
5. Use prototypes if needed to show a flow or some other interaction
6. Once the design is good enough, and we start building and the design is now only a reference. The real design is the app again and you start the process over. karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
"I don’t believe in hierarchical relationships. I don’t want to be above anybody, and I don’t want to be below anybody. If I can’t treat someone like a peer and if they can’t treat me like peer, I just don’t want to interact with them."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
“AI content must be bad then, right?”

Not exactly. I’ve used AI in SEO campaigns for over 2 years now.

None of our projects have been hit by any Google update... https://t.co/tKnft7hB8s jakezward [type:: tweet]
Memo from Sam Bankman-Fried https://t.co/qJX2MSfD8V TechEmails [type:: tweet]
Life changed for me when I realized:

There would be ~10 decisions in life that would be actually important.

The rest were just noise. girdley [type:: tweet]
"I’m not going to be the most successful person on the planet, nor do I want to be. I just want to be the most successful version of myself while working the least hard possible."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
When it takes more effort to debate a decision than to execute one of the choices, just knock it out.

But if execution risk is high, more deliberation or research is wise.

More on when to decide quickly or not:

https://t.co/KbLhQOhKZH asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"Children are happy because:
1. They're not self conscious
2. They lack a sense of time pressure
3. They've no goals.
The bottom line is they are living from moment to moment, and the mind is not there to interfere in their bliss."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
It’s impossible to please everyone. The question is whether you’re disappointing the right people.

– Adam Grant https://t.co/wcin3Pry2W lukemiler [type:: tweet]
Many of you have asked about how to deal with perceived setbacks, so I wanted to share some of the principles that have helped me in moments like this. #principleoftheday https://t.co/xLjMQdMBdI RayDalio [type:: tweet]
.@raycastapp is a gateway drug for keyboard shortcuts.

This is a thread about how I fell down the rabbit hole… https://t.co/X7x8Lt2AH7 RhettTrickett [type:: tweet]
"If the value you create is not mainly a function of the hours you spend, then you're likely in the right line of work."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
What problem are they trying to solve with that feature?
How much revenue does that 10% represent?
Will they leave if they don't get that feature?
Are there other features that 10% want more?

No could look like: "That's a great idea; we know a few other customers that would also like that feature, but it doesn't align with our current priorities and would prevent us from doing x,y,z for you. We might consider it in the future, but a,b,c would have to be in place first. If/when that happens, we'd love your input on what that feature might look like. Would that be ok?" steedancrowe [type:: tweet]
Old Mark Zuckerberg email from 2008.

Execution speed is everything at startups.

Your job as the founder is to set this tempo. https://t.co/VVptjAkcJa agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Most successful parents take away one gift from their kids which made them successful in first place : struggle kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
The people who say you shouldn’t work on your business on the weekends either:
1. Have never built a successful business or
2. Spent years working overtime to build a sustainable business/lifestyle (great!) and forgot what it took to get there (not great!) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you have time to wonder whether you have Product/Market Fit, you don’t have it.

If you can’t keep up with the orders and don’t even know where they’re coming from, you have it.

Here’s how you know, backed by data:

https://t.co/OoY6423JFR asmartbear [type:: tweet]
For example, watch this YouTuber walk around his room and see how the sensor tracks him: https://t.co/OVIDHDk3V1 Julian [type:: tweet]
My notes from Anna Wintour’s biography turned into maxims:
1. Hire talented people as found, not as needed.
2. Taste is as rare as a unicorn.
3.Your employees should describe you as “easy to understand.”

4.Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are.

5.Have a sharp eye for the weaknesses of others.

6.Combine ruthless efficiency with hyper competence.

7.If you’re not early, you’re late.

8.Get to the point.

9.Emails don’t need a subject line.
1. A blueprint for building power in media: Ads, Advice, Relationships, Money
https://t.co/dp8vtuMASH decisive.

12.Powerful people associate with valuable brands.

13.Control all the ingredients.
1. Meticulously make friends with people who are the best in their field.
2. Nobody should know your niche as well as you.
3. Keep a strict professional schedule.
17.Recruit hungry young people.
1. Make decisions quickly.
2. Master the terse memo.
3. Read voraciously.
4. Always act in service of your mission.
5. Founders want information. They don’t want to be told what to do.
6. Passion, purpose, and discipline are universally admired.
7. Killing products is necessary to teach your team your standards.
8. Create an environment where excellence is expected.
9. People judge you by your performance so focus on the outcome.
10. Be the first to leave.
11. Be frank about your ambition. People can’t help if they don’t know what you want.
12. Quality over feelings.
13. The founder’s job is to make sure it’s done right.
14. Have no qualms about being completely focused.
15. Talent routinely makes the mistake of being self-absorbed instead of being of service.
16. Stay close to the money.
17. Money comes naturally as a result of service.
18. Media can invent celebrity.
19. The only predictable thing about you should be your passion for your product.
20. Self-confidence is contagious. Self-doubt is too.
21. You get two minutes, the second is a courtesy.
22. Control the guest list.
23. Resist any cheapening of the brand, however popular and lucrative it might be in the short term.
24. Relationships last longer than money.
25. Build up your entire industry and you rise automatically.
26. Repetition is the foundation of clarity of thought.
27. Don’t try to handle stress. Learn to enjoy it.
28. The story of the father is embedded in the daughter. FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
With over 90% of the country being covered by mountains, Kyrgyzstan has an overall population density of just 31 people/km², which makes of it one if not the least-crowded country in the world.

[📹Tynchtykmr]
https://t.co/AI3SNUpf2j Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
Really impressed with Supabase. So many indie devs love it; now I know why. Super fast, excellent UI, stored procs as auto-doc’ed API calls, excellent Typescript support for your own schema and APIs. Wow. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
🤔 Odkryłem „przebiegły” sposób na uczenie inżynierii finansowej moich dzieci. Efekt przerósł moje oczekiwania i miło mnie zaskoczył 👦🏼👦🏼+🎮=🤯

Mam trzech synów. Dwaj starsi grywają, jak większość dzieci w gry. Zastosowałem proste sposoby, które pozwalają im zrozumieć mechanizmy finansowe rządzące światem i ich konsekwencje na nasze życie.

Każdy z nich, ma jakąś ilość czasu grania na konsoli, zależna od wieku. Mogą grać tylko w weekend- tzw. payday. Wprowadziłem więc opcje, które urozmaiciły ich życie i sposób myślenia.

🏦 Mogą grać na kredyt: wtedy, za każde 5 minut grania w ten weekend, zabieram im 10 minut grania z kolejnego tygodnia.

📈 Mogą inwestować: za każde zaoszczędzone 5 minut w tym tygodniu, otrzymają 1 minutę (20%) dodatkowego grania w kolejnym tygodniu.

📚 Mogą zarabiać: za każde 10 dodatkowych minut czytania dziennie ponad limit, otrzymują dodatkowe 5 minut grania.

Efekt mnie mocno zaskoczył:
✅ Pilnują dokładnie czasu grania.
✅ Chętnie zarabiają dodatkowy czas, żeby móc grać więcej.
✅ Nie chcą używać kredytu bo im się nie opłaca.
✅ Każdą minutę ponad potrzebę i chęć grania, inwestują w większą ilość grania w kolejnym tygodniu.

Co myślicie o tej metodzie? Jakie są Wasze sposoby na uczenie dzieci finansów?
#dzieci #finanse #wychowanie #inflacja Dawid_Palka_ [type:: tweet]
The best parenting advice I've ever gotten.

From some of history’s greatest thinkers and parents: RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
1. Be demanding and supportive
From @angeladuckw: “The parenting style that is good for grit is also the parenting style good for most other things: Be really, really demanding, and be very, very supportive.” RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Learn to ask, “If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?”

Don’t ever arrive at the office or in front of your computer without a clear list of priorities. You’ll just read unassociated e-mail and scramble your brain for the day. Compile your to-do list for tomorrow no later than this evening. I don’t recommend using digital to-do lists, because it is possible to add an infinite number of items. I use a standard piece of paper folded in half three times, which fits perfectly in the pocket and limits you to noting only a few items.

There should never be more than two mission-critical items to complete each day. Never. It just isn’t necessary if they’re actually high-impact.

If you are stuck trying to decide between multiple items that all seem crucial, as happens to all of us, look at each in turn and ask yourself, If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?

To counter the seemingly urgent, ask yourself: What will happen if I don’t do this, and is it worth putting off the important to do it? tferriss [type:: tweet]
Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, has a rule where he never says yes to anything on the spot.

People-pleasing had him making too many commitments.

He says something to the effect of: "Thanks for the invite. I don't say yes to anything on the spot, but I'll let you know if I'm interested."

Turning the choice into a rule lowers the pain of rejection for others and makes the decision easy for you as well. david_perell [type:: tweet]
As someone who has spent a lot of time trying to spot them, this is a pretty good list. The interesting question is to what degree it's a recipe as well as a filter. E.g. can encouraging teenage hobbies make people achieve more? It's not impossible. paulg [type:: tweet]
"The more seriously you take yourself, the unhappier you’re going to be."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Build a good business.

Where "good" is defined straightforwardly: revenue growth, expanding margins, customers that tend to stay and grow, employees that tend to stay and grow.

One of the hardest things to actually do, but you don’t need to over-complicate the high-level goals. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Rules:
1. Player one serves up something they are grateful for.
2. Player 2 must “return” the gratitude with something they are grateful for.
3. Repeat “serving” gratitudes back to all the players until the 3-min timer goes off. https://t.co/939GLA7wMi mattschnuck [type:: tweet]
You need to build a business that runs fine without “special offers” and “sales.”

Then, you can either have a philosophy of never doing that, or you can do it tactically.

The point is: Healthy base business, and you’re in control. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@jasonlk The very best will learn from all feedback, constructive or not. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Many of you have asked me about finding a work-life balance, so I wanted to share some of the principles that have helped me to achieve this. I have found that I can squeeze a whole lot more life into life by knowing how to do a few of these very well. #principleoftheday https://t.co/KpfD7j3ndr RayDalio [type:: tweet]
3 core exercises to do every day if you sit at a desk:
1. Bird Dogs work the back (aka. posterior) part of your core.
This exercise allows for correct movement, control, and stability of the entire body.
1. McGill Crunches target the front (aka. anterior) part of your core.
They help you maintain a healthy and functional spine.
1. Side Planks work the side (aka. lateral) part of your core.
They help you develop a strong, stable core while also strengthening your glutes, hips, and shoulders.

Tips on doing these exercises:
· Brace your core by pushing out your abs
· Squeeze your glutes as if you’re trying to crush a quarter in your butthole.
· Don’t rush through them. Control each movement.

Aim for one set of 6 reps of each exercise. Do these to start your day off or as a break between desk sessions.

Your body and core will thank you.

If you liked this follow me @fitfounder for more posts like these. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
"The problem with genius is that you have to tolerate madness."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The best way, perhaps the only way, to change others is to become an example."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Two kinds of happiness.
Worldly happiness is reward from our evolutionary program.Get praise,money,drugs, sex. It busies the mind with craving & anxiety.
Internal happiness is reward from being in flow.Create, meditate, love, play. It clears the mind & leaves us in peace.
@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Economic Facts & Fallacies by Sowell

The best book on the real economy told without political bias. Everyone should read this book.

Favorite quote:
“Some things are believed because they are true. But many things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly.” Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
$100M Offers by Hormozi

Remember: Your problem isn’t your lack of sales, it’s that your product sucks.

Favorite quote:

“The degree of pain will be proportional to the price you will be able to charge.” https://t.co/e77vh7bsxG Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
"I think a life properly lived is just learn, learn, learn all the time."

— Charlie Munger paulg [type:: tweet]
RIP Charlie Munger

I'll always remember him for this talk he gave on the Psychology of Human Misjudgement.

If you have an hour, it's well worth the time: https://t.co/yCQVlciSQ5 BrianFeroldi [type:: tweet]
You’re always making the best choice based on your current understanding.

Don’t try to change the choice - change the understanding. naval [type:: tweet]
Living within walking distance of your friends completely transforms your quality of life. naval [type:: tweet]
Bookmarked: How the Search Engine Works According to Leaked Documents
https://t.co/FC9iwrZs9a #SEO #Google by @natzir9 SEO [type:: tweet]
It's a superpower to be interested in important things that most other people find boring. They'll do them out of duty, if they do them at all. So if you do them out of genuine interest, you'll get a lot further. paulg [type:: tweet]
How to analyze a Balance Sheet in less than 2 minutes: https://t.co/jP0CyaZ5fB BrianFeroldi [type:: tweet]
I regret using Firebase at Reflect. All sorts of syncing and performance issues. maccaw [type:: tweet]
Kill Overkill

Business is often seen as the art of acquisition. Acquiring talent, customers, revenue, profits, mindshare, marketshare. Building and growing requires consumption, addition, parlaying some of this into a lot of that.

But the smartest businesses — the ones that tend to stick around for the long haul — know that existence is also about avoidance.

Avoiding careening variable costs, avoiding getting involved with things that aren't core to your business, avoiding spending time on things that don't matter, avoiding bad investments, avoiding people who don't help you prosper, and even avoiding customers who aren't the right fit.

However, there's something even more fundamental to avoid. It would be easy to call it "complexity" but that's not quite it. Complexity can be necessary, and intricacy can be quite beautiful — just stare into a Moorish mosaic and you'll know it.

So complexity isn't the issue.

Overkill is the issue.

Avoiding overkill is the real cheat code. That's how you jump levels. It's how you make a lot more progress with a lot less effort.

Overkill is the dust that settles on the stuff that took a lot of energy to build or buy, but turned out not to be necessary. The over-engineered, over-designed, over-hired, over-litigated, the over-spent, over-promised, over-deliberated.

Overkill is the policy that was written but never enacted. The technology that was purchased that was never used. The seven steps that could be handled in two. The nine people in a meeting made for three. The business equivalent of the 12 bedroom house for a family of four. The cooks when you don't even have a kitchen.

Overkill is using five different products to run a single project. Overkill is an seven-stage interview process that exhausts everyone involved. Overkill is acting like a company 100x your size. Overkill is buying what they bought but that you don't need. Overkill is paying thousands for something worth hundreds. Overkill is hoping that losing more will turn into a win.

In our 24 years, there's nothing we've tried to avoid more at 37signals than overkill. In the things we do, in the way we work, in the things we buy, in the things we use. And, especially, in the products we make for our ourselves and our customers. Basecamp and HEY are built to do what they need to do, in the most straightforward, elegant, and enjoyable way, and nothing more. So you can avoid overkill too.

Every day is an opportunity to find just right. To toss that policy that's in the way. To slim down the stack. To sharpen things up. To eliminate the work that doesn't need to be done. To polish the scratched glass so you can see through again.

Amass what you need, but ignore even more. Kill overkill. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
"Anger is its own punishment."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Regards from #TimeCamp. We recently had a company gathering in Wroclaw, PL. As we all work remotely, meeting our colleagues in person and enjoying a pint of beer together is a refreshing experience. We hope you're also enjoying the cheerful year-end vibe! 🍻🍰

#timetracking https://t.co/ik7n2BLGs8 timecamp [type:: tweet]
The Obvious, the Easy, and the Possible

Much of the tension in product development and interface design comes from trying to balance the obvious, the easy, and the possible. Figuring out which things go in which bucket is critical to fully understanding how to make something useful.

Shouldn’t everything be obvious? Unless you’re making a product that just does one thing – like a paperclip, for example – everything won’t be obvious. You have to make tough calls about what needs to be obvious, what should be easy, and what should be possible. The more things something (a product, a feature, a screen, etc) does, the more calls you have to make.

This isn’t the same as prioritizing things. High, medium, low priority doesn’t tell you enough about the problem. “What needs to be obvious?” is a better question to ask than “What’s high priority?” Further, priority doesn’t tell you anything about cost. And the first thing to internalize is that everything has a cost.

Making something obvious has a cost. You can’t make everything obvious because you have limited resources. I’m not talking money—although that may be part of it too. I’m primarily talking screen real estate, attention span, comprehension, etc.

Making something obvious is expensive because it often means you have to make a whole bunch of other things less obvious. Obvious dominates and only one thing can truly dominate at a time. It may be worth it to make that one thing completely obvious, but it’s still expensive.

Obvious is all about always. The thing(s) people do all the time, the always stuff, should be obvious. The core, the epicenter, the essence of the product should be obvious.

Beyond obvious, you’ll find easy. The things that should be easy are the things that people do frequently, but not always. It all depends on your product, and your customer, but when you build a product you should know the difference between the things people do all the time and the things they do often. This can be hard, and will often lead to the most internal debates, but it’s important to think deeply about the difference between always and often so you get this right.

And finally are the things that are possible. These are things people do sometimes. Rarely, even. So they don’t need to be front and center, but they need to be possible.

Possible is usually the trickiest category because the realistic list of things that should be possible will often be significantly longer than the list of things that should be obvious or easy. That means that some things on the possible list might be better off off the list completely. Instead of making them possible, maybe not making them at all is the right call.

Coming to know the difference between obvious, easy, and possible takes a lot of practice, deep thinking, critical analysis, and, often, debate. It’s a constant learning process. It helps you figure out what really matters.

But once you’re able to see the buckets clearly, and you begin to think about things in terms of obvious, easy, and possible instead of high, medium, and low priority, you’re on your way to building better products. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
“If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.” — Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
At the top of the day (or the end of the previous day), write down one thing you MUST get done that day. And do it first, as first as possible.

It's OK if it's 2 minutes or 200 minutes. So long as it really needs to happen.

Times 240 or 365 days, that's a lot. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The reason to go out into society is to find the very few people that you actually want to spend time with. naval [type:: tweet]
The less things I have on my to-do list, the more productive I am.

Focus. TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
"Devote the rest of your life to making progress." — Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
My 23 favorite insights from 2023:
https://t.co/oGLnRbtIap waitbutwhy [type:: tweet]
An inability to tolerate feedback is an inability to allow yourself personal growth. syedbalkhi [type:: tweet]
If it’s truly a mission-driven company (e.g. Patagonia, TOMS, even Tesla), you must have the vision early, and build strategy, positioning, and plan around it, else it’s not real.

And remember, most companies aren’t mission-driven. Don’t pretend, it’s fake. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I will never settle.

Always growing. TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
Being at the 95th percentile in fitness ≈ being 30 years younger. (Image via @andrewchen.) https://t.co/tPj0DhZdQr paulg [type:: tweet]
Finding PMF is a game of delayed gratification.

Notion: 3 yrs
Airtable: 4 yrs
Figma: 5 yrs

Don't go so fast you tire out your ability to think non-linearly.

In PMF, go slower to go fast. thedanigrant [type:: tweet]
80% of Brex's revenue was sourced from sales outbound. Ashley Kelly and I were responsible for the strategy that led to that outcome. On this episode of the @saastr CRO Confidential podcast we share as much as we can pack in 45 minutes on how to win with outbound sales and scaling an SDR organization. Links in the comments. samdblond [type:: tweet]
My childhood national anthems…
1. AIRWOLF https://t.co/ejD5rk1QX6 wolfejosh [type:: tweet]
My default belief is that it's easier to build companies in large, growing markets.

Any kind of company.

Small companies can find niches; large companies can find enough customers paying enough money to become large.

And all customers are spending money. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
An interesting way to divide up the world. https://t.co/f4u2n6cdki paulg [type:: tweet]
Here are 50 realizations that changed my life as an entrepreneur:
1. Startup valuation is literally a made up number
2. It's impossible to work with people who don’t answer texts within 24h
3. The internet can be your lottery ticket or your prison sentence
4. If Abercrombie & Fitch can rebrand (up 285% in 2023), then you can rebrand too
5. Having an internet audience is still wildly underpriced
6. Build products that no one asks for but everyone wants
7. It's actually a good idea to be poor in your 20s and reinvest everything in yourself (learnings, travel, network, figuring out who you are)
8. Google is probably not going to “copy your startup”
9. Content is your salesperson that works for you 24/7
10. Look for opportunities that are low status now, but probably high status in a few years
11. Lifestyle businesses are still massively underrated. You can often turn them into non lifestyle business if you want
12. Avoid dependency on anything. Social apps, VCs etc. Freedom is two words: self-sustaining
13. Taking a break doesn’t mean you’re lazy, burn out is real
14. Whatever you do, don't be mid-curve
15. The only things that should change your mood are things that will change your life
16. Copycats are a nuisance, not killers. They are usually mosquitoes, not sharks.
17. Good design can’t fix a poor product. But good design can multiply a product that’s working.
18. People follow a journey, not a social account.
19. If you’re doing stuff you hate, you aren’t rich
20. Don't create a startup without a "why now"
21. Strangers don’t want to hear about you. They want to talk about themselves or better themselves.
22. The best negotiators talk 10% of the time, and listen 90%
23. Good things happen when you add value to people’s lives through content & community
24. You could learn a lot about someone by their likes on Twitter
25. First find the niche, then learn from the community, then the startup idea will come to you
26. On hiring: if it isn’t a hell yeah, it’s a hell no. Never compromise for fit.
27. Startups never go according to plan. There is no real plan for startups, only a direction
28. The best businesses are the ones that look like a movement. It needs to be an identity, not a product.
29. Your identity is never your company ever. Your company is your business
30. Change scenery 2-3x per day to be extra creative
31. People always want to see behind-the-scenes
32. The happiest people live pretty simple lives, not chasing more and more
33. If there is an active community, there’s a business there
34. Digital businesses beats any laundromat, self-storage or vending machine business (easier, better margins)
Quick break: follow me @gregisenberg for more of this
1. Only create 50+% margin businesses like SaaS, paid communities etc.
2. Cash flow over valuation any day of the week
3. Hire global talent. The world is bigger than NYC or Silicon Valley.
4. You create your own narrative. Narrative drives word-of-mouth which drives revenue which is your oxygen.
5. If something is sold out, customers want it 10x more. Human nature.
6. Diversify cash flow every year. multiple bets, multiple products
7. Selling your first company is an emotional journey
8. Designing rituals into your communities is what brings people back. Remind them to ‘see you tomorrow
9. Being around people who have a clear understanding of what they want from life is refreshing
10. Competitors can copy your products, but can't copy your community
11. Make friends with people in your industry. Earn their trust. on’t ask for anything for a long time. Overwhelm with value. It’ll payback.
12. Listen to podcasts and take notes. It’s basically like you’re sitting in the room with the world’s greatest founders and entrepreneurs
13. Pick a niche and make a meme page. If you understand the memes, you understand the people. Don't build until you understand the memes
14. The only audience you have is the audience you own (email, texts, community etc)
15. There's a fine line between generalist and procrastinator
16. People expect opportunities to come to them. They rarely do. Assume you're alone and go after it
What are some realizations you've had as an entrepreneur, creator, maker etc?

Reply or quote RT to let the people know gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
It’s not a “family,” it’s a "team."

Like a great sports team, you can care a lot about the people, yet also demand performance. And you pick who is on the team, and you can give people more chances, or not, as time and energy permit. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
A great VP: velocity increases in their area
A good VP: velocity stays constant in their area (still hard)
A mediocre VIP: velocity declines
A bad VP: velocity falls off a cliff within a quarter

You’ll know in a quarter which you just hired jasonlk [type:: tweet]
AIs commoditize UIs and APIs.

If you talk and listen to an AI, then the Operating System UI doesn’t matter.

UIs are unnecessary plumbing between users and programs.

A coding AI can connect itself to any API seamlessly.

APIs are unnecessary plumbing between programs. naval [type:: tweet]
"Do your best" is great when the quality of the work is important, or when you derive personal satisfaction from doing great work.

Its bad if the work doesn’t matter, or if important work is starved for time as a result.

How to choose:

https://t.co/TOBYex68A3 asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"If you have an even slightly complex, slightly unusual, slightly multi-faceted, or slightly weird problem, then you are going to need, if not an extraordinary sense of agency, then at least a powerful sense of agency."

The rest of essay is good, too.

https://t.co/UAV6FFCFgr patio11 [type:: tweet]
"A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to create anything great."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The more seriously you take yourself, the unhappier you’re going to be."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Founders typically have…
- A dislike of bureaucracy
- A focus on speed
- An obsession for growth
Designers typically have…
- An appreciate of process
- A desire to get things right first time
- An obsession with customer needs
These qualities aren’t necessarily compatible. andybudd [type:: tweet]
If you can’t figure out how to explain your strategy simply, clearly, even to other people at the company…

…it’s likely that it’s a bad strategy, and/or you don’t understand it yourself.

You could pull others in, and solve it together. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
If at the end of the day, you’ve corrected some major error in thinking, some decision, some understanding of the world, that’s a happy and productive day.

Consider that when fighting evidence that contradicts your current assumptions. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Your job as CEO of a startup is to hear the harshest feedback from your customers, put your ego aside, listen, then go fix shit. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
It’s not enough to make predictions that are correct; the useful ones are bold and specific and yet turn out to be true.

It turns out you can measure this — both “how accurate” and “how bold” — to evaluate forecasts.

https://t.co/rLryEuAOKu asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"What makes great products is not process. It's content."

1 minute of wisdom by Steve Jobs https://t.co/KFKIkKzrpN asanwal [type:: tweet]
What really interesting, exciting, fun thing have you said “no” to in the past month?

If the answer is “nothing,” either you’re not looking for good Ideas, or you’re not saying “no” enough. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
How do you get people to say difficult truths out loud?

Leaders go first. You say it.

You admit hard things about yourself or your decisions or the company or the competition. You show that naming truth is strength, met with gratitude and solving things together, as a team. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Marcus Aurelius had a simple recipe for productivity and for happiness.

“If you seek tranquility,” he said, “do less.”

And then he clarifies. Not nothing, less. Do only what’s essential.

“Which brings a double satisfaction: to do less, better." dailystoic [type:: tweet]
"Knowing how little you matter is very important for your own mental health and happiness."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Though it won't feel that way at first, each and every problem you encounter is an opportunity; for that reason, it is essential that you bring them to the surface. Most people don't like to do this, especially if it exposes their own weaknesses or the weaknesses of someone they care about, but successful people know they have to. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
HOT TAKE: buying things is significantly less exciting than it used to be.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think most companies:
1. have stopped making innovative, useful products
2. focused on building subscriptions
3. believe trapping customers is better than building anything truly amazing
It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve experienced being super excited for any product. mattvanswol [type:: tweet]
Dear son,

Be patient when becoming someone you haven’t been before.

Love, dad ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
"I’m not going to be the most successful person on the planet, nor do I want to be. I just want to be the most successful version of myself while working the least hard possible."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Studies have repeatedly found that beards do deeply alter perception and attractiveness.

Some scientists believe that beards may have played a role in attracting a mate, as they can be a sign of maturity, masculinity, and dominance.

Do you think it's true?

ᵀʰᵉ ᵖʰᵒᵗᵒ ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ʳⁱᵍʰᵗ ʷᵃˢ ˢˡⁱᵍʰᵗˡʸ ᵈⁱᵍⁱᵗᵃˡˡʸ ᵃˡᵗᵉʳᵉᵈ Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
Sales is the entire job of a founder.

Selling your product to customers.
Selling your mission to employees.
Selling your vision to investors.
Selling your company to partnerships.
Selling your story with the world.

If you’re not selling at your startup:
You’re doing it wrong. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
The Cynefin framework explains:
- Complicated → can analyze and solve through expertise and process
- Complex → requires heuristics, adaptability, partial solutions
Overviews:

From @TaylorPearsonMe: https://t.co/4h0PTEsVRz
And Richard Jones: https://t.co/wq9o0HamXq asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Everyone in your company should be on customer calls.

Sales, Support, Product interviews, events — it all counts.

Even if unstructured, so long as it’s about their lives and interaction with your product & company.

Empathy and insight comes automatically to everyone. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@acquiredotcom is the Kelley Blue Book for SaaS startups. Check it out! TheJamesTGraves [type:: tweet]
86.9% of #TimeCamp users, including AI leader @aktana_inc , improved time tracking reliability in their businesses. Despite offices dispersed across the world, TimeCamp unified their time tracking. Honored to be Aktana's chosen #TimeTracker. 💪 More: https://t.co/lGVxe5DObT timecamp [type:: tweet]
7 visuals every investor should memorize:

1: In the long run, stocks win: https://t.co/TuKcC4pUGq BrianFeroldi [type:: tweet]
Einstein once said:

"The important thing is to keep the important thing the important thing."

3 proven methods to never waste your life again on unimportant tasks: https://t.co/vux0DQ3pkf BRannegger [type:: tweet]
@asmartbear Have you ever read Obvious Adams?

I read it many years ago and still think about it all the time. Basically a biz parable about just doing the obviously 'least bad' thing over and over

https://t.co/BSUkd01bau TaylorPearsonMe [type:: tweet]
@asmartbear I think this article is a reasonably good counterpoint: https://t.co/n1wxaUU14u

I think it really depends on the 'skewness' of the decision/domain.

Left-skewed domains should be handled in the "least bad" way

But right-skewed really does justify the hero shot. TaylorPearsonMe [type:: tweet]
"Following your genuine intellectual curiosity is a better foundation for a career than following whatever is making money right now."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
1. I love this story for one simple reason:
The Silna brothers (& their lawyer) didn't blink when presented with a good deal.

Instead, they understood the importance of ownership, had the ability to think long-term & held out for a GREAT deal.

That ended up being worth $800M. JoePompliano [type:: tweet]
Every time you’re tempted to say “It’s a balance,” don’t.

That’s a cop-out from saying what it really is.

Either it’s a tension or it’s really one over the other or it’s paradoxically both, or SOMETHING… asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"Charisma is the ability to project confidence and love at the same time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
There are always more problems to solve, than time to solve them.

So, getting discouraged at the enormous pile isn’t useful.

Good news: fixing even a fraction of them isn’t necessary.

Deciding which one needs to fixed next, is the most important thing. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Start by saying what part of your strategy you would advance right now, in the absence of obstacles. Then what are the 1-2 things preventing that from happening. Prioritize execution around the obstacles OR reducing/eliminating the obstacles.

Full explanation of that is here: https://t.co/7HxNw08rgn

If you're still not sure which obstacles/challenges are the most important, I give an ordered list in the article, repeated here:
1. Retention (if customers are leaving, the business model and product isn’t working)
2. People (must have the right team)
3. Throughput (can’t do enough strategic work per month)
4. Growth (of the things you have direct control over)
5. Competition
6. Health of the code base
7. Execution risk asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The Complete Problem Solver is one of the best books I have read on effective problem solving. The first edition of this comprehensive book was written in 1989.

https://t.co/xeFzAiRzcU jvembuna [type:: tweet]
Your back hurts because you have a weak core, tight hamstrings, and weak glutes.

Here are 10 exercises you can do in 10 minutes to undo hours of sitting at the desk: https://t.co/6clX64oIhQ brettboettcher1 [type:: tweet]
The latest in Customer Success:

#1/ What is "good" NPS these days?

👍 35 across the entire Gainsight customer base https://t.co/eVXKrZIHdA jasonlk [type:: tweet]
This stretch should be mandatory for people who sit at desks:

It's called the Couch Stretch and it will change your life.

Here's how you do it:
1. Get on all fours and put one foot up on a couch or chair and another 90 degrees in front to support.
2. Bring one arm up and lean back until you feel tension.
3. Hold this stretch and breathe deeply.
The further back you lean the harder the stretch gets. The more you go forward the easier it becomes. Go at your own level.

When you sit for long periods your legs are stuck at bent angles for up to 8 hours a day.

This causes your hip flexors to shorten by limiting their range of motion. This can create pain in the low back and hips while causing you to become weaker.

The couch stretch counteracts this by mobilizing your hip flexors back to their natural range of motion.

Do this every day for 30-60 seconds and watch your body feel better. FitFounder [type:: tweet]
@jean_twenge 4) I've said this 100 times and might say it 100 more times.

It's getting v v hard to deny that phone/social media use has coincided with a collapse in physical-world activity for young ppl—just as their anxiety and sadness has surged. https://t.co/Ltn6HbyGtt DKThomp [type:: tweet]
"You have to pick something big to work on, because it's hard to commit your life to something small."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
No amount of mediocre art adds up to good art. naval [type:: tweet]
Luck plays a significant role in success, but it's also about showing up and putting in the work.

Your efforts create the opportunities for luck to take effect, like working hard at a startup leading to an acquisition, or showcasing talent on Dribbble leading to a job offer. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Happiness is the absence of personal problems.

You can remove the idea of personal, the idea of problems, or limit and solve the problems. naval [type:: tweet]
"Three things in life - your health, your mission, and the people you love. That's it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Often we say: “Get more done, in less time.”

Think instead about how to: “Get only the important things done, in this time."

Starting with: What are the most important things? Are you sure? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Best books with fewer than 100 pages. Go.

I’ll start:

The Manual, by Epictetus
https://t.co/2ym9FKwItM jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Writing converts your ideas from vague to bad. But once they're written down you can at least see and fix the badness. paulg [type:: tweet]
Best thing I've read in a long, long time.

Never stopped nodding.

Good stuff, @sama. https://t.co/rWP0mUVaDO businessbarista [type:: tweet]
Psychologist Laszlo Polgar ran the most bizarre experiment on his kids.

After studying 1000s of geniuses, He was sure that geniuses are made, not born.

His attempt succeeded and all 3 daughters ended up as chess grandmasters.

Here are his 6 tips for raising a genius: https://t.co/KidHS3MSoT thenicketan [type:: tweet]
The best case scenario as a product leader is to spend:
70% of time on L tasks &
30% of time on N & O tasks

This is possible and you’ll feel great about your work whenever you can do that.

Alas, the reality for most folks is:
30% of time on L tasks &
70% of time on N & O tasks shreyas [type:: tweet]
"A happy person isn’t someone who’s happy all the time. It’s someone who effortlessly interprets events in such a way that they don’t lose their innate peace."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"I think the best way to prepare for the future 20 years is find something you love to do, to have a shot at being one of the best people in the world at it. Build an independent brand around it, with your name."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"To me, the real winners are the ones who step out of the game entirely, who don’t even play the game, who rise above it. Those are the people who have such internal mental and self-control and self-awareness, they need nothing from anybody else."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
An idea I can't stop thinking about:

Your team is secretly delegating work to you.

And your servant leadership encourages it.

Here's how to spot the monkey before you take it.

40 years ago, Harvard Business Review published its most reprinted article, "Management Time: Who's Got the Monkey?"

The premise is simple.
And most leaders fall victim to it daily.

An employee comes to us, "We've got a problem."

The manager, either out of empathy or simply being too busy to focus (or increasingly due to the asynchronous nature of our communication), says something like, "Let me think about it" or "I can't focus on that right now, let me get back to you."

And with that interaction, the employee took the monkey on their back and placed it on yours.

The manager's office is soon overrun with monkeys while the employees sit idle. Patiently at first. Then, they start asking the manager for progress reports. "I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing."

Frustration grows for everyone because the entire setup is inverted.

Peter Drucker said, "In most organizations, the bottleneck is at the top of the bottle."

This is why.

But there's a foolproof remedy to this problem. A question that always keeps the monkey where it belongs.

"What do you recommend?"
- It reminds them they own the problem.
- That they're responsible for solving it.
- That they're empowered to take action.
And that they're leaving with the monkey.

The best part?
- This is how people grow.
- This is how they learn to take smart risks.
- This is how you have more time for strategic work.
If you found yourself nodding along...

Go give back your monkeys. dklineii [type:: tweet]
"Observe when you’re angry—anger is a loss of control over the situation."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Naval Ravikant: Hire high-agency people

“[Hire] people who just solve problems without even being asked to solve the problem—they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don’t even necessarily have to update you every step of the way, they’re not asking silly questions, and they’re just coming up with solutions. Because building a startup is an infinite set of problems that are being thrown at you.”

Source: @AngelList StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
When I joined Google in 1999, I didn't understand how it was possible to win vs much larger and better funded competitors such as Altavista, but it seemed like a good opportunity to learn.

What I learned is that if you're in the lead, and you're moving faster than everyone else, then no one can ever catch up.

Now the problem for Google is that it is OpenAI and Perplexity that are in the lead and moving faster.

Google still has superior assets, but it's unclear if they will be able to shed the brainworms and accelerate. paultoo [type:: tweet]
There's no such thing as an ideal daily routine. The best model is the one that works for you.

Successful people don't keep similar schedules. Their common practice is experimenting to learn what suits them.

Don't be a slave to others' habits. One size doesn't fit all minds. https://t.co/l1H0ak5VU3 AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
The ability to focus on the signal—and ignore the noise—is one of the most important attributes of a great leader. https://t.co/q9XEP0CZK7 farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
There are a few things I re-read every year. One is “Self Reliance” by Emerson. Here’s what stood out to me this time:

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.

We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams.

I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should.

Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession.

The force of character is cumulative. patrick_oshag [type:: tweet]
Whenever possible when building a new product or doing a startup, you want to be doing something that would not have been technically possible even a couple year prior. AI is so exciting is because there are endless opportunities that could not have been done before. levie [type:: tweet]
Do devs still create little tools or scripts that address dev pain points and/or make them and the rest of the team more productive? This has been super commonplace during my career, but I almost never see this anymore. Everyone is too busy working on user stories. 🫤 anerdguynow [type:: tweet]
"A happy, calm, and peaceful person will make better decisions.

So if you want to operate at peak performance, you have to learn how to tame your mind."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
John Fowles explains in "The Aristos" (1964) how high IQ can subvert your will to act: "High intelligence leads to multiplicity of interest and a sharpened capacity to foresee the consequences of any action. Will is lost in a labyrinth of hypothesis." Rule 1: Do not lose the will https://t.co/fdGCmyj2cX oldbooksguy [type:: tweet]
Hooks, Towel Bars, and Software

Strangely, a recent bathroom renovation crystalized my perspective on product development.

When being asked to choose between towel hooks or a towel bar, the choice was obvious: Hooks, of course.

Hooks take up no space. Towel bars suck up space.

Hooks hold towels no matter how you place them. Towel bars require towels to be balanced lest they slide off.

Towels naturally look good and drape well on hooks. Towels on bars require effort to display well.

Hooks can hold anything with a loop or a bend or a catch — loofas, shower caps, etc. Towel bars can’t hold nearly as much, even though they take up much more space.

Hooks can hold multiple towels at once, with enough air getting to multiple layers because of the uneven ridges that single point hanging creates. Towel bars layer wet towels, leaving ones at the bottom or middle struggling to dry.

You can’t mount a hook crookedly. You can absolutely mount a towel bar unevenly.

Reasons go on.

But what do towel hooks have to do with product development? For me, just about everything. They’re a frame, they’re a lens, they’re aspirational. A hook holds more than towels — it holds lessons in how to build.

We aim to make hooks. I want our products full of hooks. Simple, flexible, you-can’t-do-it-wrong hooks. Hooks that just work, no fuss.

When working on new products, new features, and improving existing stuff, I’m visualizing the “hook-ness” of what we're building. Making small, flexible features with minimal surface area that can be used intuitively in obvious ways without the possibility of doing it wrong. That’s the magic formula, that’s our model.

The unassuming, humble hook is a brilliant thing. The hook is a high bar. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
"Picking the right direction to go in is way more important than how hard you work."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
They stopped using it.
Find out why before they churn.
Retention is growth.

—PMF haiku asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Improve the quality of your information, improve the quality of your thinking. https://t.co/qStrVJPICB farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
If they spend 10 minutes in your app and accomplished a lot, that’s the best.

If they spend 10 minutes because they can’t figure out how to do something, then abandon, they might cancel soon.

So, “time in app” is not a good metric, by itself.

“Valuable actions” is best. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Why brand matters in B2B.

This one simple little graphic says it all.

Brand will help you win deals.

Brand gets you out of the feature wars.

Brand means you're not battling over a 4.6 vs. 4.7 rating on G2.

Brands means the sales team isnt grasping at straws to articulate how you're different.

Without a brand, people will buy:
1. The product they've bought before (it's safer, they've used it before)
2. The product that's cheaper (it's safer, it doesn't break the bank) davegerhardt [type:: tweet]
In the future, with AI, the best software interface will be the absent one.

The one that doesn't make you click, touch, swipe...and curse. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Do not use your energy to worry. Use your energy to believe, to create, to learn, to think and to grow. ProfFeynman [type:: tweet]
"Don’t spend your time making other people happy. Other people being happy is their problem. It’s not your problem. If you are happy, it makes other people happy."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"Value your time. It is all you have.

It’s more important than your money.
It’s more important than your friends.
It is more important than anything.

Your time is all you have.
Do not waste your time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
One important commonality between generational CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Jeff Bezos is their ability to leverage product reviews to grill product owners in an effort to establish a consistently high Standard of Performance across the organization.

Bill Walsh, legendary Silicon Valley exec coach, talks a lot about the importance of doing exactly that. https://t.co/93lCNkcPAc sachinrekhi [type:: tweet]
"The source of wisdom is pain."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Peter Thiel: "To make money you have to do two things: (1) create something of value to the world, and (2) capture some fraction of the value you create." https://t.co/KFRqCKXfV1 zfellows [type:: tweet]
If I had to pick one magic pill for marketing success it would be this:

Differentiation.

What makes your product or service stand out.

If you cut all my budget and I needed to figure out how to grow the business, I would spend all of my efforts here. davegerhardt [type:: tweet]
Product Discovery activities by risk.

This isn't supposed to be an 'ultimate list' or 'must do'

I created it as a guide to help give you an idea of some of the discovery activities that you might do depending on what you need to test - you still need to work out what to test! https://t.co/QiO1oYq7TD ant_murphy [type:: tweet]
"Time is the ultimate currency and I should have been more tight fisted with it."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Creativity is usually observed when constraints meet someone with ability to bend rules with insane force and will. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
This is a dangerous mindset that founders need to avoid:

All you need is a good product and it will sell itself.

At the beginning, one of my biggest misconceptions as an engineer turned founder was thinking that your product is your only competitive advantage. I never stopped to think that sales could be a competitive advantage.

In the early days at AppDynamics, we managed to grow to several million dollars in annual revenue, primarily by landing a few big accounts like Netflix. But a fellow CEO pointed out the obvious: If we ever hoped to cross the $100 million threshold someday, we needed to get scientific about sales.

For other founders who want to embark on a sales education, here are some steps I took:
- Accept that sales actually matter. Once a company starts growing, sales, marketing and distribution are as important as the product itself.
- Commit to learning — If a software engineer can learn programming, they can learn sales. That said, I won't sugarcoat it — learning sales is a years-long process and isn't something you figure out in a day.
- Study the competition — I studied companies similar to mine that were 3-5 years ahead: How did that company run its sales process, and what kind of salespeople did it recruit?
- Lean on experts — We were fortunate to have hired John McMahon, a top authority on enterprise software sales, for weekly whiteboard sessions. Eventually, I also hired a VP of Sales which was one of the best decisions I made as a founder.
Sales should never be an afterthought and while this education requires significant time investment, it's well worth it. jyotibansalsf [type:: tweet]
I’ve always wondered how CEOs run billion-dollar companies and thought "Could I do that?"

Then I learned from a friend at Salesforce how Marc Benioff does it with his executive team, and it blew my mind how simple it was.

Here’s how he does it:
1. Each team leader submits a plan (grow 20% is Benioff’s metric)
2. If you’re hitting the plan, meet once a quarter.
3. If you’re missing the plan, meet once a week (until you hit the plan)
4. Ask: What got done? What worked? What didn’t work? How do we know it worked?
A BILLION DOLLAR company running a playbook so simple you can run it with a small team. jspujji [type:: tweet]
startups looking to sell into the enterprise
please read this . . .

enterprise sales have a grueling,
long buying process
for a VERY specific reason.

larger companies create (by design)
internal buying friction to filter out anything
that doesn't have strong motivation behind it

you must unlock and align
with an exec(s) top priority otherwise, it's not worth
their time and energy

remember, most deals die before OR in procurement

project manage the sh*t out of the deal with
weekly check-ins jjen_abel [type:: tweet]
Forward head posture & rounded shoulders are widespread in modern society.

This can be associated with stiff shoulders and necks.

But 99% of people try to fix this with exercises that address the surface-level problem (muscles) rather than the root cause.

Here’s what to do: Conor_Harris_ [type:: tweet]
So @Atlassian has rocketed to $3B+ ARR (wow!), growing 31%+ (wow!) -- and is profitable.

That's about as good as it gets in SaaS!!

But >how< did it scale?

The secrets here from CRO Cameron Deatsch: https://t.co/abNFeGItqE jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"Some of the most creative and productive people I have ever met work in multi-week bursts and then have weeks where they just idle with little done. It’s the nature of the human animal."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"The measure of wealth is freedom.
The measure of health is lightness.
The measure of intellect is judgment.
The measure of wisdom is silence.
The measure of love is peace."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Founder 1: builds an okay product but focuses on sales and talking to customers thus finding product market fit faster

Founder 2: builds the best product in the entire market for years in stealth mode and hopes customers will randomly find them

Be the first startup founder. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
I finally figured out how to skip daily stand-ups

I made an AI clone that knows what I'm doing all day, listens to audio with whisper, and responds with a language model.

Here is a sneak peek of Jarley in a real life meeting: https://t.co/q0yFKZYfhc charlieholtz [type:: tweet]
Nothing kills good copywriting quite like an exclamation point. davegerhardt [type:: tweet]
How to clarify a concept you can't articulate:
1. Change mediums. Draw it. Photograph it. Sing it.
2. Change levels. Explain what is one level up (bigger picture) or one level down (finer details).
3. Change fields. What would this concept look like in different fields? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
I was talking to a founder yesterday and we both agreed that their initial product should be cheap, hackable, and slightly ugly. How different these are from the goals a big company would have. And yet this is the seed big companies grow from. paulg [type:: tweet]
What if you weren’t allowed to offer tech support.

How would this force your product to be self-explanatory?

Extremes can lead to improvements that benefit customers and improve the product.

More ideas:

https://t.co/359FvqphPb asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Supplements every man should be taking:
- Fish oil
- Vitamin D
- B12 if vegetarian
For everything else, analyze your diet first and see if you need it. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
What do people die from at different ages?

I hadn’t seen a satisfying chart that showed causes of death in different age groups all at once, so I just made it myself.

Turns out, in the US, “external causes” are a majority of deaths until ~age 40
https://t.co/BXoNQ4mut7 https://t.co/xdKR52huTk salonium [type:: tweet]
How to tie a tie

[📹 leone.cuordileone]
https://t.co/5h0l3uFc0a Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
"Devote the rest of your life to making progress." — Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Some people are focused on daily tasks while others are focused on their goals and how to achieve them. I've found these differences to be quite similar to the differences between people who are intuitive vs. sensing. Those who tend to focus on goals and "visualize" best can see the big pictures over time and are also more likely to make meaningful changes and anticipate future events. These goal-oriented people can step back from the day-to-day and reflect on what and how they're doing. They are the most suitable for creating new things (organizations, projects, etc.) and managing organizations that have lots of change. They typically make the most visionary leaders because of their ability to take a broad view and see the whole picture.

In contrast, those who tend to focus on daily tasks are better at managing things that don't change much or that require processes to be completed reliably. Task-oriented people tend to make incremental changes that reference what already exists. They are slower to depart from the status quo and more likely to be blindsided by sudden events. On the other hand, they're typically more reliable. Although it may seem that their focus is narrower than higher-level thinkers, the roles they play are no less critical. I would never have gotten Principles: Life & Work out or accomplished hardly anything else worthwhile if I didn't work with people who are wonderful at taking care of details. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Instead of “Now / Next / Later”

what about “Now / Probable / Possible.”

You’re still communicating roughly the same thing, but with correct level of commitment. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Why is SF so compelling for tech founders? The energy matters — good energy begets good energy.

@harjtaggar describes sharing an office with @ev when Odio became Twitter, and bumping into @RonConway and getting instant introductions to everyone they needed to talk to https://t.co/zuOdc4NKVO garrytan [type:: tweet]
It's very useful to have these unaligned models to resume pre-training on / align yourself. Suhail [type:: tweet]
Your kid’s device is NOT the problem.

My daughter was 5 years old when she started building a healthy relationship with her devices.

She did that WITHOUT parent-imposed screen time restrictions. Here’s how:

👇 nireyal [type:: tweet]
We explained as simply as we could that screen time comes at the expense of other things like time with Mom and Dad or playing at the park.

We also shared that smart people designed her favorite apps to keep her hooked. You may think all of this was too much for a 5-year-old, but she understood.

This laid the foundation for fixing her relationship with her device.

Equipped with this information, she was now able to make informed decisions about her screen usage and enforce her OWN rules.

This is the critical piece. It is your kid’s job to know when to stop. You need to give them enough information to empower them to make those decisions.

Then, you take a risk…

👇 nireyal [type:: tweet]
Probably the most important book to read in your 30s. https://t.co/WBmtf6leSX prateek1793 [type:: tweet]
Making a big spreadsheet of weights and values is not a good way of making a decision.

With Binstack, you convert complex decisions into a stack-ranked, and then binary choice, which you can then explain.

Here’s how:

https://t.co/BJKzC69kpe asmartbear [type:: tweet]
When we got the idea for Box in 2004, we researched all the ways you could store and share files online and found literally none had a modern approach. It was like discovering a secret hiding in plain sight. When you find one of these, throw everything you’ve got at it. levie [type:: tweet]
I practice Transcendental Meditation and believe that it has enhanced my open-mindedness, higher-level perspective, equanimity, and creativity. https://t.co/OMmcKRbWGg

It helps slow things down so that I can act calmly even in the face of chaos, just like a ninja in a street fight. I'm not saying that you have to meditate in order to develop this perspective; I'm just passing along that it has helped me and many other people and I recommend that you seriously consider exploring it. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Btw, you don't need a Flipper Zero to "hack" dumb radio protocols. The piece of wire is enough.

Check out how to receive and decode 433MHz radio signal just with a PC sound card. https://t.co/9zLN2pMnoY flipper_net [type:: tweet]
You time is the ultimate zero-sum game.

If you work on P for an hour, you're not working on Q.

So, prioritization is of paramount importance, and whiling away a useless hour is prohibitively expensive.

Except, rest and creativity and daydreaming generates ideas and well-being. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
@asmartbear Guard your time.

Every day get done the #1 most important task then make room for the rest. OranAITech [type:: tweet]
@asmartbear Agree, Jason. It makes ruthless prioritization a top skill to build because everything is a trade off. Pam_Rubin1 [type:: tweet]
Based on everything I’ve seen, a simple recipe can work: focus on what’s in front of you, design great days to create a great life, and try not to make the same mistake twice. That’s it. If you really want extra credit, try not to be a dick, and you’ll be a Voltron-level superstar.

The secret to winning any game lies in not trying too hard.

Feeling as though you are trying too hard indicates that your priorities, technique, focus, or mindfulness is off. Take it as a cue to reset, not to double down. And take comfort in the fact that, whenever in doubt, the answer is probably hidden in plain sight.

What would this look like if it were easy?

In a world where nobody really knows anything, you have the incredible freedom to continually reinvent yourself and forge new paths, no matter how strange.

Embrace your weird self.

There is no one right answer . . . only better questions. tferriss [type:: tweet]
"If an organization wants to shift to product teams (empowered to drive outcomes) they need to structure them so each team includes the necessary skills and abilities required to build and deliver customer value." - @‌trixiemaru

https://t.co/TUFisoa8BU

#ux (via @‌ttorres) https://t.co/thrN5IrJZ4 ttorres [type:: tweet]
The main lesson in software is to go after markets that are artificially constrained by bad tech. When you build something far simpler or more integrated than was offered before, you will invariably expand the market size by an order of magnitude. levie [type:: tweet]
“An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way”

The smartest people talk simply

This is why online writers are becoming so stupidly wealthy.

Cheat code to the universe: simplicity

Take complexity. Make it simple. Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
My 3 management non-negotiables:
- Clear expectations
- Weekly 1:1 meetings
- Consistent feedback
Looking back on 20 years of leading teams, I can track 90% of issues back to skipping one of these.

💡Clear Expectations

Everyone wants to win. They need to know:
- How you're keeping score (the What)
- What rules they're expected to follow (the How)
No one can meet your secret expectations.

💡One-on-Meetings

Highly engaged stars need three things:
- Impact (Does my work matter?)
- Development (How can I get better?)
- Support (Can you get me unstuck?)
Done well, you can hit all three in 30 minutes a week.

💡Consistent Feedback

We all have distorted self-images.
- You need to help the self-critic catch themselves winning
- You need to help the over-confident uncover their blind spots
Minor corrections compound into major improvements. Withheld feedback grows into mistrust like cancer.

The harsh truth is that you pay the same price whether you do these or not.

Skip them, and you pay the cost of cleaning up messes at the end.

Do them, and you invest upfront in high performance.

If you found this helpful, please repost and follow @dklineii for more like it. dklineii [type:: tweet]
As a Director on dozens of boards, I’ve seen:

Operational excellence adds millions in profits.

My 19 traits of top 1% performing businesses 🧵… girdley [type:: tweet]
Leaders set deadlines, and they’re mostly met.

If the company meets all deadlines, I worry we’re sandbagging.

If we never meet deadlines, something is wrong. girdley [type:: tweet]
🎭 From Darwin to Nietzsche, great minds have long recognized the link between movement and creativity. Now, science backs it up: brief bouts of aerobic exercise can spark novel ideas and connections. 🧗🌈

https://t.co/nKoZvURzaf DanielPink [type:: tweet]
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt: The greatest products have almost always been designed for the benefit of the people actually building them StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
The only way to win a power struggle in a relationship is to refuse to compete. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
After watching Dune Pt. 1 and 2 I am convinced I need to start reading Science Fiction.

Sci-Fi Twitter, I need your help.

What are some great Sci-Fi series for beginners like myself? marketplunger1 [type:: tweet]
The anti-smartphone movement will be one of the biggest movements of our time. It's just getting started... https://t.co/1zrgwp0PPt gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
10-15% bodyfat is the golden range. This is where you will feel high energy, great mood, look cut, high testosterone, and live long. TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
Different surfaces, different acoustics

[📹 noisy_sauce]
https://t.co/uNemAEbBSm Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
In January, I turned 38.

I'll probably die in about 17,824 days (ChatGPT's best guess).

Here's a list of 38 things I've learned over the last 13,952 days of my life so far:
1. If you're nice to someone, they'll probably be nice back.
2. Criticizing someone's ideas will only cause them to double down.
3. Find out what someone loves to talk about, then ask them questions about it. They will light up.
4. People generally do what they're incentivized to do.
5. If someone seems upset, repeat back what they just said. They will usually calm down.
6. Don't let people you dislike give you gifts or do favors for you. You'll feel like you owe them something and end up inadvertently helping them.
7. Everyone is too busy thinking about themselves to notice the pimple on your nose.
8. Every time you say something out loud, your brain pounds it in a little further. Be careful what you say.
9. If someone gossips with you, they're probably gossiping about you with others.
10. Everyone other than your closest friends and family subconsciously want to see you fall in the mud. It's not intentional, it's human nature: the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.
11. Don't tell, storytell.
12. You will want the things your ten closest friends want. Choose friends accordingly.
13. The things with the greatest mental payoff are generally the same things that would have made a hunter gatherer happy: exercise, being in nature, laughing with friends, sex and companionship, eating delicious food, focusing on a task, watching your kids play.
14. Humility always wins over extravagance. Don't count your poker chips at the table.
15. Nobody wants to hear about how bad your day is going.
16. Be nice to people on your way up. You might meet them again on your way down.
17. Half of having friends is just being reliable. Say "yes" at least 70% of the time. Be on time. Respond to texts and calls.
18. Leave some money on the table. You don't need the last dollar.
19. Want to get invited to cool parties and dinners? Host them.
20. Beware of people who are rude to waiters and service staff.
21. Email people you admire. Sometimes they'll respond and good things will happen.
22. The best way to avoid mistakes is to read about the mistakes of others.
23. Planning is usually just guessing.
24. Bad sleep, bad life.
25. Never expect people to change. They rarely do.
26. Alcohol and drugs are like an elastic band. The harder you pull it up, the harder it will whip back down the other way and hurt you.
27. Think of psychopaths and narcissists like poisonous spiders. You don't want them anywhere near you, especially not in your bedroom.
28. Take off your sunglasses when you meet people.
29. Always default to picking up the bill, especially if you can afford it.
30. Whales only get harpooned when they surface. If you don't want to get harpooned, stay quiet.
31. Ideas are like tiny embers. They require immediate oxygen to turn into a fire. Take action.
32. Don't judge old people for having views you disagree with. In a few decades, your liberal views will seem conservative, and that will be you.
33. Going back thousands of years, every generation thinks the next generation is weak and the world is doomed. Keep that in mind when you read the news.
34. When a child is upset, get down to their level, validate their feelings, and touch their face with the palm of your hand. Works with adults too.
35. When writing emails, less is always more. Most people don't read past the first sentence. If worried about appearing too brusque, use a smiley face :-)
36. Every personal strength is shadowed by a corresponding weakness. In yourself and others. Accept and work with this.
37. There's no such thing as problems, only people problems.
38. The days are long, but the years are short. Especially with kids. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
"Avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."
~ Steve Jobs

Today's doodles https://t.co/2U2BotzPVl rmnth [type:: tweet]
Companies kill their own messaging over time.

4 bad habits seep in as they grow.

Here's the breakdown: https://t.co/1NKobq6Z3g aakashg0 [type:: tweet]
Real progress starts when customers actually use the product, not you’re building it alone.

If it takes longer than 4 months, you’re not serious about shipping.

Here’s a full roadmap from “idea” to “PMF”:

https://t.co/v0MPmVHHFB asmartbear [type:: tweet]
How to appear more confident by eliminating “insecure vibes”:

I've accidentally given off insecure vibes when I really wanted something to work out, but wasn't sure if it would.

First, what are insecure vibes?

Insecure vibes are subconscious clues and signals you might be giving off when you're feeling anxious, nervous, or uncertain.

The worst part is your worries might become a self-fulfilling prophecy because...

-> You appear nervous
-> The other person picks up on it
-> You get more nervous
-> They start doubting you
-> Which makes you more nervous

Insecure vibes often look like overcompensating. For example:

A long diatribe, when a short and warm response giving the benefit of the doubt would have been more effective.

Assuming the person will say no before you even start. You load up on caveats instead of focusing on persuading your recipient. You talk fast because you want to get everything out.

Insisting on email or Slack when you know a phone call is better. Deep down, you know when you should just hop on a call. But you’re nervous about messing it up, and you’d rather avoid confrontation.

Over-explaining because you expect the other person to be skeptical. You bring up counterpoints to arguments no one has mentioned.

To get rid of insecure vibes, ask yourself:
1. Could this be interpreted as sounding defensive?
2. Am I overcompensating or overexplaining?
3. How would I respond on my best day?
4. Would I say this if I felt secure?
Get rid of insecure vibes—and your writing, meetings, presentations, negotiations, and pitches will become stronger. wes_kao [type:: tweet]
You know what would be great for America? Rebuilding it in 6 months. Hard, but good for moral. And cost $50M and not $2B. Prove we can still make things.

We won’t, of course, but I wandered to say it out loud. https://t.co/MrADdjHGKt asmartbear [type:: tweet]
To succeed, you don't have to get everything right.

You can get a lot of things wrong.

You just have to get a few of the right things right. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
"Success is when you no longer have to play the game."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
We started having a "Family Meeting" two years ago.

It runs like an EOS meeting:
1. Good news share from each
2. Process issues
3. Review week's calendar
4. Adjourn
Best 30 minutes of the week.

What do you want to know? girdley [type:: tweet]
“The responsibility of a society is to reduce misery, not to increase happiness.”

RIP Danny Kahneman—a paragon of intellectual integrity, humility, and curiosity

https://t.co/aiLWAmK3mZ https://t.co/sJlkxIAGFc AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
Whenever I make an investment decision, I observe myself making it and think about the criteria I used. I ask myself how I would handle another one of those situations and write down my principles for doing so. Then I turn them into algorithms. I have gotten in the habit of doing it for all my decisions.

Algorithms are principles in action on a continuous basis. I believe that systemized, evidence-based decision making will radically improve the quality of management. Human managers process information spontaneously using poorly thought-out criteria and are unproductively affected by their emotional biases. These all lead to suboptimal decisions. Imagine what it would be like to have a machine that processes high-quality data using high-quality decision-making principles/criteria. Like the GPS in your car, it would be invaluable, whether you follow all of its suggestions or not. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Tons of distribution before product/market fit can create false hope for a team. Founders who do this don’t understand how important product/market fit is but tend to think that distribution is a path to fit. It isn’t. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Someone leaked the cold email strategy of a $83,333/mo SAAS on Reddit.

And it’s actually genius…

You need to see this: yassin_baum [type:: tweet]
“Invert, always invert” said Charlie Munger for many decades.

Meaning:

What would be a terrible investment? A terrible strategy? Now: Do the opposite of that.

Something like that might actually work for startups:

https://t.co/bzuQWIEQVr asmartbear [type:: tweet]
My mother would have been 90 today. She was an interesting person and an extraordinarily good mother. The most useful bit of parenting advice I've heard is something she told me. "All you have to do is love them and show them the world." https://t.co/PSvfM0gb4W paulg [type:: tweet]
The most meaningful relationships are achieved when you and others can speak openly to each other about everything that's important, learn together, and understand the need to hold each other accountable to be as excellent as you can be. When you have such relationships with those you work with, you pull each other through challenging times; at the same time, sharing challenging work draws you closer and strengthens your relationships. This self-reinforcing cycle creates the success that allows you to pursue more and more ambitious goals. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
I always prefer ordinary voice calls to Zoom calls. Zoom calls are much more work, because you have to think about what your body is doing and not just what your voice is doing. And you have to stay put; you can't pace like you can on a voice call. paulg [type:: tweet]
The more you’re attached to your idea (the product, the UX, the feature, the target customer, the market, the competitor, the differentiation, the price, the tech stack, the name, the colors), the less you can notice when it’s wrong.

Hold everything lightly. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
If you have constructive feedback, it’s not rude to speak up. It's unkind to stay silent.

Honesty is the highest form of flattery. It signals that you respect their ability to handle the truth.

Don't deprive people of the opportunity to learn. Offering ideas is an act of care. AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
It's essentially impossible for your 10x employees to work with your 1x employees

They get 100x more done by Friday, and they don't the time or patience to wait for the 1x to catch up

If you are going to have both, you almost have to keep them separate jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"Guard your time. Forget the money."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
New study ranks the habits that could add decades to your lifespan:
- Exercise
- Stay connected
- Sleep more
- Stress less
- Avoid smoking, opioids, binge drinking
- Eat plants
https://t.co/RxqfE4FFM2 DanielPink [type:: tweet]
You can tell a great story in three simple steps:
1. Setup - set context, show the backstory
2. Conflict - something happens and things change
3. Resolution - closure after the conflict davegerhardt [type:: tweet]
#MondayMotivation https://t.co/UlGUIgUW5N kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.

—Warren Buffett FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
When I'm living a good day, what am I spending my time on? Do the sources of information I am exposed to each day support that type of lifestyle or distract from it? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
What goes around, comes around.

Same sales message as I had at Smart Bear, 20 years later. 😆

(This time with AI) https://t.co/suRfI7gcCr asmartbear [type:: tweet]
what is charisma? https://t.co/uOVLn2Gky9 anuatluru [type:: tweet]
You’ll look at the contract again only if things go badly, not when it goes well.

That’s why it’s important to have pre-decided everything while y’all were sober and friendly, using lawyers to run down all the corner cases.

DO NOT operate with someone else without one! asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Most of your problems are not actually problems. They are discomforts.

Discomfort is not the problem—on the contrary, it’s usually the cost of the solution. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
"Humans aren’t evolved to worry about everything happening outside of their immediate environment."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Life is not to be measured in time,
but moments. https://t.co/AhkeYiqRHB BRannegger [type:: tweet]
"I split problems into two groups: muddy puddles and leaky ceilings.

Some problems are like muddy puddles. The way to clear a muddy puddle is to leave it alone. The more you mess with it, the muddier it becomes. Many of the problems I dream up when I'm overthinking or worrying or ruminating fall into this category. Is life really falling apart or am I just in a sour mood? Is this as hard as I'm making it or do I just need to go workout? Drink some water. Go for a walk. Get some sleep. Go do something else and give the puddle time to turn clear.

Other problems are like a leaky ceiling. Ignore a small leak and it will always widen. Relationship tension that goes unaddressed. Overspending that becomes a habit. One missed workout drifting into months of inactivity. Some problems multiply when left unattended. You need to intervene now.

Are you dealing with a leak or a puddle?"

--@JamesClear asmartbear [type:: tweet]
You have to earn trust over time.

By definition: Seeing that I do what I say I will do, or that I tell the truth.

What you can give instantly is “benefit of the doubt.”

“Trust, but verify.” asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"I’m not going to be the most successful person on the planet, nor do I want to be. I just want to be the most successful version of myself while working the least hard possible."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Something I taught 15 yo: In everyday life, big decisions often occur mixed together with small ones. If you're not careful you'll tend to give them equal weight. So separate decisions as much as you can. There are many techniques for doing this. paulg [type:: tweet]
@paulg Personal approach is just asking a series of questions:

Is this decision going to matter a week from now? A month from now? A year from now? 10 years from now?

But the little decisions do add up, can’t use this as an excuse to let the small things slide anufella [type:: tweet]
So @samdblond has one of the most stellar track records in sales.

💳 $0 ➡️ $400M+ ARR at Brex

👥 $0 ➡️ $70M+ ARR at Zenefits

🖊️ $12M ARR (& Profitable) at EchoSign

My 6 key takeaways 👇 https://t.co/OBRtjTQAh5 HarryStebbings [type:: tweet]
I made a prompt to write ads in the same style as Apple.

Prompt is too long, copy-paste it below: https://t.co/F35AIVPiIj RubenHssd [type:: tweet]
First timer's guide to working directly with a CEO:
1. Meet your deadlines.
2. Be positive.
3. Raise your hand for help.
4. Be transparent and don't hide stuff.
That is it. jasonlk [type:: tweet]
"Like everything in life, if you are willing to make the short-term sacrifice, you’ll have the long-term benefit. 'Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.'”

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
I’m only 53 but 3 things come to mind:
1. “It never gets easier, you only go faster”—Things never slow down, they only change so don’t wait for “someday” to build a great, sustainable life. This is one thing my wife & I got right.
2. It’s critical to maintain what I call “The 3 Lives”: Your life as an individual, your life as a couple, and your life as a family. Too many people sacrifice one or more after having kids and it’s a recipe for trouble. Boundaries are everything!
3. Take occasional extended breaks / sabbaticals—This is one of my few regrets and it’s a huge flaw in America’s workaholic culture. There’s never a good time to do it—you have to make it happen. Camp4 [type:: tweet]
The ability to identify and ignore bullshit is one of the most underrated and important skills of our era. jayvanbavel [type:: tweet]
This is Richard Morgan.

He's a 93-year-old four time world rowing champion who has the fitness levels of a 40 year old.

Scientists studied him to find out his secrets to delaying the aging process.

Here's what they found: https://t.co/RGhP9LQg9A FitFounder [type:: tweet]
Lesson #2 - Healthy body fat levels

Richard is 5'3, 131 lbs, which puts him in the normal range for BMI.

His body fat was recorded at 15.4% through a bioimpedance scan.

While the body fat may not be accurate it's still impressive for someone his age. https://t.co/4bGAzVBiqV FitFounder [type:: tweet]
"Value your time. It is all you have. It’s more important than your money. It’s more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Of course you procrastinate or even justify never doing the things you don’t like to do.

So, whenever you’re doing that with, say, marketing and sales, ask yourself:

Is this 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 not a good use of my time, or am I just avoiding? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
UI/UX Tip ⚡️

Avoid using general links such as "Lear more", "Click here" and so on.

Use descriptive links, since it's better in many aspects, starting from accessibility ending with SEO and overall user experience. https://t.co/e900CO7vhw vponamariov [type:: tweet]
I'm convinced everyone aged 30+ needs to watch this exchange between longevity experts Peter Attia & Andrew Huberman.

Understanding this may extend your lifespan by 10 years.

Let me explain in simple language 👇: https://t.co/R8i47DyAjf seanpk [type:: tweet]
If you feel overwhelmed—good. It means you’re pushing your limits.

If you feel emotional—good. It means you’ve found something deeply important.

If you feel uncertain—good. It means you’re learning. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
Wow, they turned my 293 page book into a 7 minute video! This is a really compelling telling of how the phone-based childhood replaced the play-based childhood, and what we must do now. Thanks @kiteandkeymedia!
@LetGrowOrg JonHaidt [type:: tweet]
My speaking skills have definitely improved since I started getting on AirChat and then starting my podcast.

I've gotten a lot more confident in my speaking and capable of streaming long chains of thought together.

More: https://t.co/g7gIf5G8xH nivi [type:: tweet]
Peter Thiel: "What I think people like Zuckerburg or Musk or Jeff Bezos at Amazon have in common is that they’re relentless. They don’t stop. Every day, they start over, do more, get better at it. People often ask whether Facebook was just a fluke, in the right place at the right time.

But I think the more you get to know Mark or founders like him, the less plausible it becomes. And that’s, in part, because you can see how hard he works, how much planning it was, how much of a vision there was from the very beginning." BUILD_OR_DIE [type:: tweet]
Over-complicating everything is a sure sign that you’re stuck in your head. The mind wants to grand schemes and elaborate systems. It loves tedious itty-bitty details that end up being a distraction from the main point. But true wisdom is almost always simple & straightforward. david_perell [type:: tweet]
‘People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.” | Seneca dailystoic [type:: tweet]
There's an old Chinese proverb that sums it up:

"Eat until you are eight parts (out of ten) full, and you will live long.

Eat until you are nine parts full, and you invite disease."

In other words, the first 80% of your meal sustains you. The last 20% sustains your doctor. https://t.co/GiwwJWtm62 timrevenueflow [type:: tweet]
Daniel Dennett (28th March 1942 - 19th April 2024)

RIP

Dennett on how to criticise wisely https://t.co/wdOtG2o9l0 rmnth [type:: tweet]
Your life can either be a German weather report or a Greek weather report.

Be the Greeks.

https://t.co/dp5lyzOWBv girdley [type:: tweet]
2/ Focus on ONE goal

One of the biggest lessons I learned from working directly under Mark Zuckerberg was this:

Pick ONE goal… then focus relentlessly on reaching it.

Mark’s goal was 1 billion users on Facebook. noahkagan [type:: tweet]
According to American psychiatrist Dr. David R. Hawkins, at the root of all fear is the fear of death, once that fear is overcome all other fear vanishes (Hawkins, 2005).

"Near-death experiences, characteristically transformative in their effect, have frequently allowed people to experience the energy level between 540 and 600."

— Dr. David R. Hawkins, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, https://t.co/r1CxcjjvPc

☆ covertress [type:: tweet]
ScreenAI is a Vision-Language Model (VLM) developed by Google AI that can comprehend both user interfaces (UIs) and infographics.

It's wild — capable of tasks like graphical question-answering, element annotation, summarization, navigation, and UI-specific QA. https://t.co/vZgR9cgweV hey_madni [type:: tweet]
Stop thinking of your failures as failures and start thinking of them as learning opportunities.

See the difference it'll make over the long term. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
The happy warrior. Don't mistake that smile for weakness. https://t.co/9xxQC9EPJh paulg [type:: tweet]
5 questions every manager should ask their direct reports:

Link: https://t.co/Z9keFmUNSE https://t.co/qERaLD9vj2 DanielPink [type:: tweet]
How to make an impact in your first 90 days

25 quick wins ideas from some of my favorite product/growth leaders in tech including @ElenaVerna @geoffintech @julesdwalt @MadhavanSF @clairevo @jiaonazhang and more

Link to post by @poyark in thread 👇 https://t.co/HDq8erl5EK lennysan [type:: tweet]
I got 25/36 on this facial expression reading test. I was curious how Jessica would do, so I sent it to her. She got 36/36. She really is the social radar. (via @markessien)

https://t.co/7QQaR9xupB paulg [type:: tweet]
Aristotle was a big believer in walking.

Not just Aristotle — Steve Jobs, Virginia Woolf, Nikola Tesla too.

If you walk less than 60 minutes per day, open this: https://t.co/RsIFdxDQVa timrevenueflow [type:: tweet]
A big fan of Work at Startup by @ycombinator (hats off to the @rchoi !!) We posted a new job two days ago and got hundreds of applicants pretty fast. Quan is great but also it's the best vetting layer to make sure incoming talents love startups. https://t.co/spFWR9dsu3 chunonline [type:: tweet]
“Product/market fit is not just the prerequisite for growth, it is the fuel that powers all sustainable growth efforts.” — @SeanEllis https://t.co/9CDvYgi4Xu SeanEllis [type:: tweet]
Start Small and Monopolize

Forget jumping into a sea of competition.

Thiel advises starting in a small, manageable market you can dominate and expand from there. https://t.co/RKLm3TmPFV timothyluong [type:: tweet]
One of the worst kinds of businesses is one that sells something to a price sensitive consumer.

My nightmare business is a software company that creates software for school teachers to help them manage their class schedule.

Why? Because the ultimate customer is a teacher. Teachers don’t make much money, and are often price conscious. They also have to pay for it out of pocket.

A big ticket software purchase for a teacher might be $9.99 per month.

Software of the same complexity, in a different niche, for somebody who uses it to make a lot of money, could cost 100x the price. And usually they just throw it on a corporate credit card. They rarely pay for it themselves. Total price insensitivity.

Example:

Imagine if you instead made a simple software tool that helped hedge fund employees analyze a certain type of trade.

Or a niche tool that helped companies file some annoying government form that would deliver a $25,000 tax benefit.

Nobody wakes up and thinks “I want to start that.” It’s freaking boring. And that’s why it’s a good business. You have a customer who will pay a large amount of money for you to solve their problem because it enables them to make far more, plus you have no competition.

Business on easy mode vs. hard mode. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
In large organizations compliance is often rewarded more than success. Founders should avoid the challenges of large organizations for as long as possible. mwseibel [type:: tweet]
- Read 1 hour a day
- Write 1 hour a day
- Train 1 hour a day
This will change your life for the better. LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
@mwseibel agree. this is from a memo we wrote when we were just getting started https://t.co/iptix3PwkZ awwstn [type:: tweet]
"Love is what remains when all other emotions are gone."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
How to design almost any UI element.

A curated list of 61 articles 👇 vponamariov [type:: tweet]
In the beginning, start out small— find the one narrow thing that you can do well, and carve out something that's great. https://t.co/AISn8csejs ycombinator [type:: tweet]
Today's @stratechery interview with @alighodsi was super interesting. Definitely worth the read. Here's his answer to what he's learned becoming an accidental CEO. Like 25 years of blog posts in 3 paragraphs. https://t.co/KwfszbATPt modestproposal1 [type:: tweet]
What's a book that changed your life?

Not subtly, I'm talking about the lightning strikes the_wilderless [type:: tweet]
Funny, true, and @jjen_abel would probably enjoy it also. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
You’re better off owning an average business in a growing market than a well run business in a shrinking market. girdley [type:: tweet]
You’re never going to be perfect—there is no such thing. You’re human. So instead, aim for progress, even the smallest amount. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
"The enemy for most #startups isn't competition, it's confusion. The easiest thing for a prospect to do is nothing. If you talk and they leave confused, they will just write off the wasted half-hour and move one."

Dave Kellog (@Kellblog) in https://t.co/40TOCQHKnW #positioning skmurphy [type:: tweet]
Instead of just “hiring the smartest people” for your startup, focus on building a team that avoids drama, trusts each other, communicates frequently, and truly makes each other better at their roles. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
"The clear thinking comes from having time to reflect and to pursue your genuine intellectual curiosity."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
I consistently close sales in 30-minute Zoom meetings

Steal my format:

2 Min: Small talk
↳ "Where are you today?" etc

2 Min: Magic question
↳ "What led you to take this meeting?" It's magic because they tell you why they need you.

5 Mins: Your story
↳ People love stories, esp founder stories. Tell them why your product/company/service exits.

5 Min: Show, don't tell
↳ Share your screen and do a demo.

5 Min: Their questions
↳ Their questions are a critical signal of interest.

5 Min: Your discovery
↳ You're asking about their issues, decision process, etc.

5 Min: Next steps
↳ Lock in what happens next, even book the next meeting. jspujji [type:: tweet]
CSS is overcomplicated for the same reason that medieval philosophy is: it starts from a lie. Medieval philosophers were trying to reconcile observation with scripture. CSS is trying to separate content from presentation. paulg [type:: tweet]
Start in a small TAM to build a strong foundation and reputation.

To expand from there, leverage your existing strengths and customer insights, ensuring that each new segment aligns with your overarching business strategy.

How:

https://t.co/PaddbfaVoA asmartbear [type:: tweet]
when people ask me why i am the way i am i should really just show them the notes my dad wrote me growing up https://t.co/oeln2K9JRV isabelunraveled [type:: tweet]
Tuesday wisdom from @morganhousel https://t.co/chXaakbH2z DanielPink [type:: tweet]
"I'm about 2x more productive when I avoid wheat, alcohol, and meetings."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Why do startups raise so much darn money?

⏩Many reasons, but #1 is competition

The more competitive the space, the less organic growth alone gets you there, and the more overwhelming a space with sales and marketing helps you pull ahead jasonlk [type:: tweet]
A related post here:

https://t.co/6vhwgKnZUZ jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Yes, bad, really.
https://t.co/rvicpONNIV. by @alicegcallahan
More on this later today https://t.co/SNzVNuFiZo EricTopol [type:: tweet]
Customers do not care about:
- how awesome your startups features are
- what tech stack you use
- buzzwords they don’t even understand
- how scalable your servers are
They just care about how you will solve their painful problems. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
@IAmMarkManson @morganhousel People prefer unhappiness over uncertainty. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
you get rewarded in proportion to the size of the problems that you are able to solve - but how do you get better at solving problems? https://t.co/vzvOTx0DYc prakhesar [type:: tweet]
John Fowles explains in "The Aristos" (1964) how high IQ can subvert your will to act: "High intelligence leads to multiplicity of interest and a sharpened capacity to foresee the consequences of any action. Will is lost in a labyrinth of hypothesis." Rule 1: Do not lose the will https://t.co/HFyTLXm4Bh oldbooksguy [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/Eez4LThjYr QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
Everything complicates over time if you don’t fight for simplicity. TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet]
The number of people living in extreme poverty fell by ~100,000 yesterday.

(This has been true every day since 1990, on average.) pronounced_kyle [type:: tweet]
"My definition of wisdom is knowing the long-term consequences of your actions."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
This is a #book worth re-reading several times. Highly, highly recommend.

The author is a professor and professional poker player, so she understands the inherent randomness in the world and how to grapple with it while making important decisions in life. https://t.co/pVY3Jpi065 paraschopra [type:: tweet]
Use money to reward the best, not to motivate the rest. naval [type:: tweet]
"We're not selling in SaaS so much as solving problems. And that's why so many are struggling these days" @lennysan + @jasonlk

More here -> https://t.co/XTFG4gpKaX https://t.co/Rrrg8ZfdGL jasonlk [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/PfTTKG1qIY QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
Radical transparency forces issues to the surface—most importantly (and most uncomfortably) the problems that people are dealing with and how they’re dealing with them—and it allows the organization to draw on the talents and insights of all its members to solve them.

Eventually, for people who get used to it, living in a culture of radical transparency is more comfortable than living in the fog of not knowing what’s going on and not knowing what people really think. And it is incredibly effective. But, to be clear, like most great things it also has drawbacks. Its biggest drawback is that it is initially very difficult for most people to deal with uncomfortable realities. If unmanaged, it can lead to people getting involved with more things than they should, and can lead people who aren’t able to weigh all the information to draw the wrong conclusions.

#principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
The simplest way to clarify your thinking is to write a full page about whatever you are dealing with and then delete everything except the 1-2 sentences that explain it best. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Product managers should talk to customers all the time.

Customer service actually does talk to customers all the time.

How do they treat customers?

Is this the main way that customers ever talk to you?

https://t.co/TEcssumRwX asmartbear [type:: tweet]
7 short rules for a better life
1. Say no (a lot)
2. Focus on effort, not results
3. Wake up early
4. Go the f to sleep
5. Relax. Whatever it is, you’re probably taking it
6. Give up on the idea of revenge
7. Do your job well (how you do anything is how you do everything) dailystoic [type:: tweet]
One of my biggest surprises from researching pivot stories was finding that the single most common source of pivot ideas came from noticing pull for an internal tool or piece of technology the founders built as a side-effect of their original ideal.

Some of my favorite examples in thread below 🧵 lennysan [type:: tweet]
$40K MRR solo 🫨

Dec 20th: Idea formed.
Feb 1st: First subscriber.
Feb 28th: 1K MRR.
March 16th: 2K MRR.
…
May 5th: 30K MRR.
May 13th: 40K MRR.

I had no idea Autoshorts would be this popular during the first ~$1k MRR… then it snowballed all of a sudden. Keep grinding 🤷‍♂️ https://t.co/WDizi5GRJc ericsmith1302 [type:: tweet]
Referral strategy works! After our new launch today, revenue already tripled 😆 https://t.co/VlxQsS4lSf VyvyenYue [type:: tweet]
I found a guy on YouTube who asks 60, 70, 80, and 90-year-olds:

• Their biggest mistakes
• What they used to worry about
• One piece of advice for their younger self

Wildly enough, they all pretty much mention the same things.

Here are my top 7: https://t.co/EsxmQRVoDC brianbeers [type:: tweet]
1. https://t.co/Yp5eFR4BVE brianbeers [type:: tweet]
Thursday wisdom: https://t.co/r3c2qBnBY6 DanielPink [type:: tweet]
If you don't let up on yourself and instead become comfortable always operating with some level of pain, you will evolve at a faster pace. That's just the way it is.

Every time you confront something painful, you are at a potentially important juncture in your life--you have the opportunity to choose healthy and painful truth or unhealthy but comfortable delusion. The irony is that if you choose the healthy route, the pain will soon turn into pleasure. The pain is the signal! Like switching from not exercising to exercising, developing the habit of embracing the pain and learning from it will "get you to the other side."

By "getting to the other side," I mean that you will become hooked on:

-Identifying, accepting, and learning how to deal with your weaknesses,
-Preferring that the people around you be honest with you rather than keep their negative thoughts about you to themselves, and
-Being yourself rather than having to pretend to be strong where you are weak.

#principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
“These things I can’t delegate, because only I can do it.”

^^^ Could be because truly you're the only human who ever 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 do it.

Or it's because you're hoarding information and not communicating.

The latter is a bad reason to be a bottleneck. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Carl Jung once said:

"Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge."

Here are 11 things I learned from him: https://t.co/1MSHAuTRGA Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
An easy founder mistake is to treat your high quality employees as children. It's easier to tell people what to do and how to think but the best people will not thrive in this sort of environment. A second easy mistake is to employ low quality employees. They must be told what to do and how to think and they still underperform. mwseibel [type:: tweet]
If your startup builds the best product in the world people won’t just randomly find you. So please learn sales and marketing.

Even the very best products need visibility. Without sales, marketing, distribution your product will go unnoticed and fail. Plain and simple.

You need to know your target audience and where they hang out. You need to have a message that speaks to their pain points.

You need to create awareness and interest. You need to engage with your audience, build relationships, and gain their trust.

So don’t wait for customers to find you. You need to go out and show them why your product is the best solution for them.

Building distribution through sales and marketing is just as important as building your product - if not more today. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Just because you can’t measure something doesn’t make it less real. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Don’t Take Yourself So Seriously

Life is a game.

If you take it too seriously, you'll suffer.

Instead, embrace its inherent unpredictability and find joy in the flow of experience.

Ultimately, you're just a monkey with a brain on a floating rock. https://t.co/iILxVNlkCD lex_investing [type:: tweet]
If everything is a priority then nothing is a priority.

How I plan my week (as the CEO of a $100M/year company): noahkagan [type:: tweet]
1. Clarify your Top Priorities
If I asked you, “What are your top 3 priorities in life?” How would you answer?

Mine are:
1. My relationships
2. @AppSumo
3. And Million Dollar Weekend
If you don’t know what your priorities are, everything seems urgent. noahkagan [type:: tweet]
1. Work with Accountability Partners
Every single week, I email my priorities to my accountability partner Adam Gilbert.

I’ve done this for 15 years! Here’s an example: noahkagan [type:: tweet]
Tuesday wisdom: https://t.co/Kh2d4zQ2Ry DanielPink [type:: tweet]
I've studied 100s of mental models to make better decisions.

The top 10 I use daily (that make me $45M/year): https://t.co/lG9Ay9P6H2 brianbeers [type:: tweet]
It's conventional wisdom that focusing too much on work / ambition / wealth isn't the optimal way to live a happy life. Turns out there's an actual chemical explanation for why:
@maxjoseph
https://t.co/FHS2EeSzhQ waitbutwhy [type:: tweet]
@dickiebush “Why you should define your fears instead of your goals.”
- Ted Talk by @tferriss
https://t.co/GeQXyLCsp3 WriteSchrute [type:: tweet]
You could argue that the point of programming is to produce bugs. Bugs show you where your model of a problem doesn't match the problem, and in a highly motivating form. paulg [type:: tweet]
Wednesday wisdom from Peter Drucker: https://t.co/XNvMxJvvsg DanielPink [type:: tweet]
90% of meetings are mutually agreeable procrastination. dklineii [type:: tweet]
Confidence is not a belief in success. It's a comfort with failure. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
“What an astonishing thing a book is.

It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles.

But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years.

Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you.

Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs.

Books break the shackles of time.

A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."

—Carl Sagan FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
One of the biggest mistakes I made starting out was not collecting social proof from clients.

Was getting client results but never thought to document it.

Social proof is the #1 thing that makes sales easier.

Start collecting it now. TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
i love that this was steve jobs' favorite piece of art

perfectly encapsulates what made him brilliant and one of the most important skills for founders - being able to simplify things down into their most essential form https://t.co/bELBp2TN9L thatguybg [type:: tweet]
Silicon Valley (the series) is so back https://t.co/d44t2btxk1 growing_daniel [type:: tweet]
Tolerating a problem has the same consequences as failing to identify it. Whether you tolerate it because you believe it cannot be solved, because you don't care enough to solve it, or because you can't muster enough of whatever it takes to solve it, if you don't have the will to succeed, then your situation is hopeless. You need to develop a fierce intolerance of badness of any kind, regardless of its severity.

#principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
I’m a bubbling pot of stress today and, as I think about it, I’ve realized that it’s entirely because of my calendar.

Nothing stresses me out like tetris game of a calendar.

It’s my white whale. The thing that I have never been able to tame or conquer.

I’ve tried a bunch of different strategies:

• A 2-3 hour booking window (results: booked 4+ months out, plus important company issues or CEO calls getting jammed in last minute = 4-6 hours a day of meetings and activity and no deep work)

• Having no calendar at all, just calling people (result: a massive call list that I can never get on top of, as well as a lot of people being offended when I won’t book with them)

• Calendly (results: a lot of meetings I don’t want to do booked into eternity)

I’m at the point where I’m ready to declare calendar bankruptcy and I want to tap your collective intelligence.

The core issue is that I am an inch deep and a mile wide.

I oversee over 40 companies, I have hobby businesses, I’ve got 150+ minority investments, I’m trying to do a podcast and this newsletter, I have a broad ranging, highly extroverted social life, and I’m a father of two who often has to travel for work.

TLDR: My ambition exceeds my time.

I’m curious to hear from other people who nod along with this and have significant work and personal responsibilities.

How do you handle this? How have you prioritized? How do you delegate some of this? Please respond to this thread on if you have any ideas (systems, delegation workflows, heuristics, etc), I’m all ears! awilkinson [type:: tweet]
An Apple investor from 1981 says Jobs almost destroyed Apple https://t.co/nRfIKSlInM historyinmemes [type:: tweet]
Don’t be 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦; be 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥.

Being nice often means lying to save someone’s feelings. (There are times where this is a good thing.)

Being kind means telling the truth, so that the person is not mislead or mistaken, but also being thoughtful of their feelings. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
In the early years of a startup, there is no work/life balance.

4-6 years in, with even a small team, if you don't have balance by then, you haven't built a strong-enough team.

That’s how you get there. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Complicated pricing is usually a sign of a company that has run out of ideas jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Bragging about how busy you are?

Watch out. It doesn't impress people. It makes them think you're incompetent and unlikeable -- and decreases the likelihood they'll help you.

Kill the stress bragging -- and just do your work! https://t.co/1QZYH3QOjh DanielPink [type:: tweet]
You want your startup to be great at a few things not just okay at 100. That's why one audience, one channel, one offer is such good advice to keep you focused.

Too many startups fail because they try to do way too much in the beginning rather than being laser focused on being the best at a few things.

Less is sometimes more especially when building a company. For example, you probably don't need every feature in the world for your customers you just need to solve one painful problem to start.

Also you probably don't have time to be great at executing a marketing strategy across every platform so it's probably best you focus on acquiring customers through one channel to start otherwise you're probably going to spread yourself too thing.

Then when it comes to the audience or customer, you want to narrow your focus immensely to really be able to message and speak to this type of persona.

If you go too broad here it'll feel like your product or service is for everyone and when you speak to everyone you end up selling to no one.

So remember, less is more, especially when you're building a startup. You can always expand down the line as you grow but in the beginning keep things simple and focused.

Then just keep going and keep build. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
9 years in with 200M MAU, instead of expanding, Discord chooses to narrow its focus.

There's great power in being great at one thing. https://t.co/qaHK7xNxfX Suhail [type:: tweet]
"If you don’t have leverage, you’re never going to make real wealth."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
There are different types of hard work:
1. Outthinking (a better strategy, a shortcut)
2. Pure Effort (working longer, intensity)
3. Opportunistic (positioning yourself to take advantage of change)
4. Consistency (doing average things for longer)
5. Focus (saying no to distractions)
Each of these requires a different type of hard work. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
Someone leaked the cold email strategy of a $83,333/mo SAAS on Reddit.

And it’s actually genius…

You need to see this: yassin_baum [type:: tweet]
A simple rule that makes life easier:

Always strive to give value before you ask for value. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Tymczasem opublikowaliśmy najnowsze wyniki Brand24. Powtarzalne przychody (MRR) wyniosły w tym okresie ponad 620 tys. USD (+30% r/r). Z kolei całkowite ARPU (średni przychód na klienta) osiągnęło kwotę 159 USD (633 zł), a ARPU na nowych klientach wzrosło o 32 proc. rok do roku do 192 USD (768 zł). To już 9 kwartał tak mocnych wzrostów 🤟🔥

Ogromne brawa dla całej Załogi! 💪 sadek [type:: tweet]
1. “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth.
When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”

• Modern-day politics is full of people repeating what we want to hear while doing nothing

• Truth: we need action, not nice words. https://t.co/OYGuApRm0j Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
1. "The truth is often not complicated.
  What gets complex is evading the truth.”
• Don’t let people lie to you with made-up complexity.

• If it's complex, it's bullsh*t.

Life is simple. We’re born, pay taxes, then die. Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
1. “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.”
Human progress slows cause we get fixated on perfect solutions. There are none.

Perfect solution:

• Solves a problem
• Actually gets put into action

Action will tell you more than a perfect solution that goes nowhere. Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
Why early startups shouldn't hire product managers, a conversation from the Turpentine network: https://t.co/HzlxvqtCLn eriktorenberg [type:: tweet]
One way to be unique, is to be different.

Another way is to be “better,” but it has to be 10x better, not 30% better, otherwise it’s not unique enough.

So e.g. if a product is 30% cheaper than a competitor, that’s interesting, but 90% cheaper is a game-changer. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
For example, most people will operate in a way that maximizes the amount of money they will get and that minimizes the amount of work they have to do to get it.

To see this, just leave someone unsupervised and allow them to bill you for what they have done. Be especially wary of this conflict of interest when people are advising you on matters that will affect how much money they earn--such as the lawyer who spends a lot of billable hours giving you advice, or the salesperson who advises you on what to purchase while receiving a commission on the amount that you spend. You can't imagine how many people I meet who are eager to "help" me.

Don't be naive. Strive for the highest possible percentage of your population having meaningful work and meaningful relationships while recognizing that there will always be some percentage of the population who won't care for the community and/or will do it harm.

#principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Paul Graham on the shortness of life https://t.co/xhUqLmKSnP tylerbruno05 [type:: tweet]
"The secret to a great life is to nail the basics."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
If you are ever uncertain about your current startup trajectory, talking to users will always change the course of that. You either are building nothing people want (you'll abandon the current path) or you're building something people want (it's just a matter of time). Suhail [type:: tweet]
“I’ve never seen a great leader who is conflict averse. In the NBA, there’s a shorthand for someone that won’t back down from conflict. It’s called “wanting the smoke.” Great leaders don’t just want the smoke. They climb down the chimney” patrick_oshag [type:: tweet]
What is the revenue impact of a feature that helps the sales team close deals, but isn’t used much by customers?

Should you kill it, because customers don’t actually care?

Or keep it, because they 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 they will care?

Other unmeasurable things:

https://t.co/YdiZEhCpT2 asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Product Management is, at its heart, about managing risk.

But the risks at play are not obvious.

The extended classification beyond the famous "Value, Usability, Viability, and Feasibility:"

(1/9) https://t.co/3sCTl0Liuo PawelHuryn [type:: tweet]
"You'll do better work if you're bored rather than busy."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
As the founder of a $100M/yr business, I’ve read thousands of books.

A tiny fraction of them are worth your time.

Here are 9 that changed my life and business: noahkagan [type:: tweet]
Practice higher-level thinking by looking down on your machine and thinking about how it can be changed to produce better outcomes.

#principleoftheday https://t.co/TkYilRkXr3 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
When you’re whole-heartedly, genuinely, completely, obsessively, excitedly consumed by something:

It’s infectious.

People want to be around you, even if they don’t share your obsession.

People root for you, because we love seeing that thrive.

Fly that freak flag. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Excellent breakdown of cognitive biases. https://t.co/NMk5eICZXb PeterMallouk [type:: tweet]
Product Management 101.

Today: Outcome vs. Output https://t.co/vzypQlzPLE KiwiDenny [type:: tweet]
nietzsche destroying my people pleasing tendencies with this passage https://t.co/2KYaYWp8Wy Ashwinreads [type:: tweet]
Entrepreneurship is about risk-taking.

It’s about doing things without knowing in advance how they will turn out.

It’s about “getting it wrong” time after time since you know in your heart that each failed experiment is getting you closer to solving the real problem. mbrandolph [type:: tweet]
When someone copies your product/design/pricing/website/feature, it’s OK to be mad.

Also remember: It means they have no ideas, no insight, and they don’t know how to get it.

Which means you’ll always be ahead, just by doing what you’re already doing.

So do that. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
How to spot an A-Player:

-> Independent Thinker
-> Curious & Humble
-> High Standards
-> Energy Raiser
-> Disciplined

It's character, not credentials. dklineii [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/ydivuFfYvG PsycheWizard [type:: tweet]
“Never, ever tell anyone about your problems, 90% of the people really don't care. The other 10% are glad you have them.”

— Charlie Munger https://t.co/mviT3ojVUH readswithravi [type:: tweet]
Frame your strategy as a hypothesis to be tested, rather than as a set of decisions already made. Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
The distribution of house sizes in France looks a lot like the distribution of business sizes, and for the same reason: a regulation that kicks in at a certain size. https://t.co/XmDbLrkmUh paulg [type:: tweet]
Beware: The constant desire to improve yourself can itself become a subtle form of addiction. IAmMarkManson [type:: tweet]
“Peter [Drucker] said to me, ‘You spend too much time thinking about if you’ll be successful. It’s the wrong question. The question is how to be useful.’”
— Jim Collins

Listen to my interview with Jim Collins: https://t.co/5Gn635HYMm tferriss [type:: tweet]
The most important thing you'll read this Sunday...

Nietzsche's brutal takedown of the modern cult of busyness https://t.co/lpu0T5JQ1R oldbooksguy [type:: tweet]
Nietzsche asking the hard questions https://t.co/gM9wiCV4bn oldbooksguy [type:: tweet]
Notes from @BillAckman's fireside chat in Omaha:

People Underestimate the Power of Checklists
- Pershing Square had the best 6 years of its history since they inscribed their checklist into a piece of "stone"
- "If I ever veer [off this checklist] just hit me over the head with this thing"
The checklist: investingdpark [type:: tweet]
OpenAI's ChatGPT daily visits. $NVDA $MSFT https://t.co/GXGpWuhzUK The_AI_Investor [type:: tweet]
As a rule of thumb, I never consider tech to be a moat. The market always catches up. Sooner or later.

There are already players like Applied Intuition that license FSD tech and they already have many top car makers as clients.

Distribution and brand is the real moat and will continue to do so even with cars with FSD. kayshreyas [type:: tweet]
A startup is a treasure hunt for a true but untapped behavior.

The quality of the product is the quality of the search.

Sometimes you didn’t look in the right place; sometimes you’re chasing a mirage.

Almost all startups fail.

But who comes out on the other side does not. naval [type:: tweet]
Are you a "0-1" person or a "2-50" person or a "100-5000" person?

Often we don’t know until we’re already in the thick of it. You think you know, only because there’s comfort in the familiar.

But maybe you really are just one, in which case you’ll need an exit plan someday. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"Time spent has nothing to do with job done."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Monday wisdom: https://t.co/slstaxO2qh DanielPink [type:: tweet]
The best performing stocks in the S&P 500 over the last 5, 10, 15, and 20 years...

https://t.co/l5IYmkf6Ih https://t.co/fLHisaMb3K charliebilello [type:: tweet]
6 luxuries in life: https://t.co/sNCQWCj2Ef readswithravi [type:: tweet]
“In the short term, you are as good as your intensity.

In the long term, you are only as good as your consistency.”

— Shane Parrish readswithravi [type:: tweet]
Every founder should do customer support. You talk to so many customers which helps find product market fit faster. Plain and simple.

When you handle customer support, you get direct insights. You hear firsthand about their pain points, preferences, and frustrations. This feedback is gold for refining your product.

Doing customer support lets you see how customers use your product, what they love, and where they struggle. You’ll spot unexpected issues and find areas for improvement, letting you iterate and improve quickly.

Plus when customers know the founder cares it builds loyalty and sparks word of mouth referrals and creates brand awareness. That’s crucial for growth.

Handling support also gives you a competitive edge. You’ll make smarter decisions about product development and marketing because you understand your customers’ needs firsthand. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
I’m obsessed with the startup ideation process. Eg. How do we create more hyper-growth companies & what were the top companies really like at the earliest days? This book might be the closest thing to a repeatable framework. https://t.co/6hgX5AybZf abarrallen [type:: tweet]
Never be overheard complaining… Not even to yourself. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Remember that you cannot judge whether the decision-process was good, based on the outcome.

You can make exactly the right decision in poker, and then lose.

Most things in life are like that. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs sent an email to himself 13 months before he died https://t.co/OTaOxDZv7H eyishazyer [type:: tweet]
Stop designing with primary buttons https://t.co/xXehiTBaIY zander_supafast [type:: tweet]
Changing how visitors interact with a site is difficult but possible. The full reports are: https://t.co/GnP0bJNPtC and https://t.co/DEuZ4g9V1u

I would read the user experience/site metric portions.

Ultimately, it means having longer, more frequent Chrome sessions from users. (And if you can get them to return to the site again, that's even better). ericlancheres [type:: tweet]
The cold email script that never stops working

(adjust as needed) https://t.co/3Id4odD4yi yassin_baum [type:: tweet]
Recently interviewed a PM who shared a killer template for synthesizing user research! This is the knowledge sharing we need in product teams - low effort, high impact learnings to elevate everyone.

(filled out with a made up example for a note taking app)

#productmanagement https://t.co/Ub5nTr55LD ibscribe [type:: tweet]
You need 3 daily wins: https://t.co/mh3ue8h0f5 FluentInFinance [type:: tweet]
What’s the best tutorial on using AI you’ve read? shl [type:: tweet]
All the successful businesses I know started with some idea — an incredible feature, an annoying problem solved, an entertaining thing.

But never: I wanted a business, so just I made something random.

(Although, it can pivot.) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Remember this: The pain is all in your head. If you want to evolve, you need to go where the problems and the pain are. By confronting the pain, you will see more clearly the paradoxes and problems you face. Reflecting on them and resolving them will give you wisdom. The harder the pain and the challenge, the better. Because these moments of pain are so important, you shouldn't rush through them. Stay in them and explore them so you can build a foundation for improvement. Embracing your failures--and confronting the pain they cause you and others--is the first step toward genuine improvement; it is why confession precedes forgiveness in many societies. Psychologists call this "hitting bottom." If you keep doing this you will convert the pain of facing your mistakes and weaknesses into pleasure and "get to the other side" as I explained in Embrace Reality and Deal with It. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/Y3b08AKndX QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
How do you become the type of person who makes great decisions?

I fill this out everytime I make a major decision (eg. big investment, start/sell a company, etc.)

Then I re-visit it ~1 year later and look at my line of thinking. Without writing it down, I lie to myself later https://t.co/xDxGW02HRF ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
It took me way too many years to figure out:

You have to be OK with being “just ok” or even “crappy” at most things, so that you have the energy, attention, time, space, to be 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 at a few things.

How I’ve navigated this:

https://t.co/hKPflFhITT asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Your startup has a 1000% higher chance of success if you stop overthinking everything and just ship it.

Overthinking kills startups. Planning and perfecting forever means you never launch. Speed is key. Get your product out quickly, get feedback, and improve fast.

Perfection does not exist with startups. Waiting for perfect means missed chances and falling behind. Real user feedback is gold. It shows what works, what doesn’t, and what your customers need.

Shipping fast builds momentum. Every release, even small ones, creates momentum that keeps your team fired up. Progress boosts morale and drives your startup forward.

Early launches test your ideas. You might think you know what customers want but real user data is better. Launching early helps you make decisions based on actual feedback.

Don’t worry about failure. Every successful startup has made mistakes. The key is learning and moving forward. Your first product won’t be perfect, and that’s okay. Progress and learning matter more.

So stop overthinking and just ship it. agazdecki [type:: tweet]
Dostoevsky understood people so well, it's ridiculous: https://t.co/YstUnIcK5U CoffeewClassics [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/9AFHLDXH07 QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
Most important "WHAT IF" question in philosophy

(Nietzsche, 1882) https://t.co/clzD6ODZ33 oldbooksguy [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/eEYds8egnA Dostoevskyquot [type:: tweet]
Mystics search for truth - the truth of what is.

Scientists search for truth - the truth of how it works.

Entrepreneurs search for truth - the truth of what people want. naval [type:: tweet]
When you bring up that objection, is it because you’re trying to kill the idea, or trying to strengthen it?

Might be useful to declare which it is, right from the start. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
"Value your time. It is all you have."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/De7cIfTPB3 QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
Scary 🥶 sadek [type:: tweet]
Most AI writing tools suck

But, AI is an incredible writing assistant.

The best results come from custom prompts + your data.

Here's results from an AI prompt that turns a podcast script into list of talking points e.g. educational, spicy take, shareable and more https://t.co/2t57VcOFHY searchbrat [type:: tweet]
Claude 3.5 Sonnet + Artifacts is an insane upgrade

Now anyone employ their own personal business intelligence intern.

PROMPT: Create an interactive Business intelligence infographics report of this Tesla Q1 2024 Update https://t.co/XBeOD7pUJI minchoi [type:: tweet]
The more tasks are broken down, the more dependency arrows, the more intricate the analysis, the less I believe the final estimate for the project.

Complexity breeds unpredictability. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
5 bad habits that are killing your productivity:
1. You don’t wake up early (Marcus Aurelius)
2. You focus on what’s outside your control (Epictetus)
3. You’re in the wrong crowd (MA) 4. You don’t know how to say “no” (Seneca)
4. You think you’ll live forever (Seneca) dailystoic [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/pZty0HK7ml PsycheWizard [type:: tweet]
Strongest personality traits that go with high life satisfaction:

-Am good at many things
-Believe that by working hard a person can achieve anything
-Take risks
-Easily apologize when I have been wrong
-Believe one has special duties to ones family
-Like to visit new places
-Am an extremely loyal person
-Respect authority
-Work on improving myself

Strongest personally traits that go with low life satisfaction:

-Often feel that others misunderstand me
-Find that nothing excites me
-Postpone decisions
-Hate to hear about the successes of others
-Am often bored
-Let others take advantage of me
-Make enemies
-Often tell lies
-Often forget things
-Cry easily

(nicely summed by @sbkaufman) jayvanbavel [type:: tweet]
if you are tired

then just do it tired https://t.co/Lx7lHVn9mG sporadica [type:: tweet]
When you feel like all the good ideas are taken, remember that humans have felt that way for 250 years, and have always been wrong. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/lCAmGbyc4O QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
9 powerful systems to make 2024 your best year ever:

h/t @SystemSunday
(Found it valuable? Repost ♻️ the hyper-visual to spread the word) https://t.co/d98UlKV4D9 SachinRamje [type:: tweet]
You learn faster by doing than reading.

But also you’ll miss awesome things others already found.

But if they’re handed to you, you don’t really know them.

So, alternate.

Explore on your own, then read with enhanced comprehension, then back to your own exploration. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The Big 5 personality traits strongly predict life satisfaction (r = .8 - one of the largest effects I’ve seen in a psychology paper). https://t.co/K2OaLCSD0L https://t.co/TlZiLN3ibe SteveStuWill [type:: tweet]
How to communicate your vision effectively? https://t.co/m4JVqwXV4G Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Buried in 10 years of Jensen Huang's Stanford talks are the secrets to building the most valuable tech company in the world.

I dug through hours of talks and mapped out how the 30 year veteran CEO of NVIDIA thinks about inventing the future. https://t.co/lnMIrjZFBV JasonShen [type:: tweet]
Emotion regulation is like other skills: it takes practice.

After 2 weeks of daily journaling to reframe unpleasant events, depression dropped, life satisfaction rose, and the benefits lasted at least a month.

The best way to improve at managing emotions is to do it more often. https://t.co/vt2JQ6aMWe AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
4 Amazing Books That Will Challenge Your Thinking
1. Determined by Robert M. Sapolsky https://t.co/0LFmPHAfeT Powerofbooks3 [type:: tweet]
"Work as hard as you can. Even though what you work on and who you work with are more important."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
how to be satisfied: agency
“believe that by working hard a person can achieve anything” https://t.co/xt1vEBI1dI saranormous [type:: tweet]
“Failure is irrelevant unless it is catastrophic.” — @elonmusk

https://t.co/3LZXhqwXPo readswithravi [type:: tweet]
If the product is zero-touch, high scale, then being fully metrics-driven makes sense.

Otherwise be largely qualitative, because numbers are useful checks in the dashboard, not the view out the windshield. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
It’s easy to confuse being busy with being productive.

Here are a couple of questions worth asking yourself:

‣ Does what I am doing contribute to the goal?
‣ Do I need to create a system around this?
‣ Can someone else perform this task?
‣ Should I say “no” to this?
‣ Can I substitute this activity for something else on my schedule?
‣ Should I be increasing/decreasing time spent in this area? Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
How to reclaim 40 hrs/week (I’m not kidding): https://t.co/6AyEHqfMUf SystemSunday [type:: tweet]
"To me, the mind should be a servant and a tool, not a master. My monkey mind should not control and drive me 24/7."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Dear SaaStr: How Can I Make Sure My Board Doesn’t Fire Me?

Founders are often guarded toward most VCs. Perhaps they should be. That’s a different, and longer conversation. And one thing founders tend to worry about is — can I be fired by my investors?

🤷‍♀️First, it’s tough to be truly fired if you control the majority of the board, voting shares, etc.

So the more rounds you raise, the less it’s really up to you who the CEO is. With more rounds of venture capital come more board seats, and after a few rounds, the founders often don’t control the board. And the board decides who the CEO is.

Even if you control the board, contractual terms alone don’t eliminate all drama and stress in high-stakes situations. We saw this live with Uber. Even with Travis Kalanick controlling the board, in the end, he was still pushed out. It wasn’t easy, but the investors did push him out. We also saw it live in a crazy way with WeWork. The investors paid a crazy amount to push the CEO out.

👉The thing is, the last thing 98% of boards want to do is fire a CEO, and most especially in an earlier-stage startup.

It’s simply way too much work, and way too risky, to try to find someone new to come in. That won’t know the business, the customers, the codebase, etc.

And everyone knows startups are tough, and have ups-and-down. Especially seasoned VCs.

🙍‍♀️But this concern weighs on a lot of founders nevertheless. What’s the answer?

Some simple advice: transparency + not running out of money mean you shouldn’t have to worry, not 99% of the time.

Where boards get so nervous as to want a fire a CEO is when the bad news is a big surprise. After another big surprise. Really, the Third Big Surprise. Missing a quarter is tough. It happens all the time, though. But when a CEO tells you everything is Daisies and Unicorns, going great, and then you get an email later saying the quarter was missed hard … that creates some panic.

Hiding bad news repeatedly also freaks investors out. Many founders hide from bad news. They stop sending out investor updates for a while. They hunker down. That’s natural. And a terrible idea. Investors are prepared for bad news. Share it as soon as you have it. Actually, share it as soon as you sense it.

Finally, the worst bad news to hide is that you are running out of money at a much faster rate than anticipated. Don’t hide the burn rate. Share your “Zero Cash Date” every month. More on that here: Knowing — and Sharing — Your Zero Cash Date – SaaStr Don’t run out of cash a lot faster than you’ve led your investors to believe. That freaks everyone out. Then, they feel like they have to make a change. Even if that’s a bad choice — there’s no better choice. And here’s the key: almost all VCs save some extra money for a second check. As long as they know when you’re out of money, and you’ve shared that well ahead of time, they can prepare themselves to decide whether or not to write that second check.

So my quick tips:

1⃣Send out a monthly investor update, every month, ideally the first week of each month. It’s OK to send a “Flash” update that is draft, and then follow with the final numbers later. Better to send a 95% complete update on Jan 1 on the the last year, than a 100% accurate update on March 31.

2⃣Share your top 2-3 concerns in each board meeting, along with the top 3 highlights. Just put them out there, so everyone’s tracking them.

3⃣Share bad news quickly, and really, before it happens. As a founder, you know. You know when you’re over your skis. You know when the burn is too high. You know when that fancy VP of Sales you hired isn’t going to work out. You know. So share it early, before anyone else can even see it. That builds more trust than you can imagine.

4⃣You can re-forecast once a year, max. After that, it’s just a miss, and accept it. That’s your job. Some founders endlessly reforecast when things get tough. That helps no one. It just undermines confidence.
Don’t cancel board meetings when times are tougher. I see this way too often these days.

👉 No surprises to your board and investors. This basically ensures no one thinks about making a CEO change. Try to live by this creed, if you can. Share the important surprises when they happen, and ideally really, before they happen. Even when every day and week brings a new one.

Most importantly, remember how VCs work. Most VCs can afford to lose the first check they invest in you. The second, the stress level starts to go up (unless you are a true rocketship). But “forcing” a VC to write a third check, when they don’t want to? That’s when even the best VCs start to freak out. That’s when you cross the line of losing too much money, over too many rounds, too many times. jasonlk [type:: tweet]
Some audiobook recommendations:

The Story of Civilization by Durant
Iliad (Penguin Edition)
The Road to Serfdom by Hayek
American Caesar by Manchester
Masters of Doom by Kushner
The Wages of Destruction by Tooze
The Storm of Steel by Junger
The Guns of August by Tuchman
The Gallic Wars by Caesar
Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho
Genghis Khan by Weatherford

The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile.

Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day.

I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy. elonmusk [type:: tweet]
AMEN awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Rafael Nadal on the importance of doing the work, even when it's hard https://t.co/Kjz0UI3KCh farnamstreet [type:: tweet]
Such a beautiful poem on personal growth! https://t.co/midjWehiLd Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Founders: One of the simplest things you can do to enhance your sales tempo is just create a goal for customer facing meetings in a week.

That's it. You probably don't have a target (let alone a floor) for that. Do that, and you'll already be ahead of the game.

If you're not having 10 customer facing meetings a week, there's probably something wrong. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Most coworkers default to being polite--not telling you the raw truth.

If you really want direct feedback, I believe you have to persuade people to give it to you.

You can do this by saying, "I would love to get super direct feedback from you. Don't hold back. Don't worry about being too harsh because I know you have good intent."

Once they give you feedback, react positively. This celebrates their behavior and reinforces that they should continue being honest next time too.

It was exciting to get a bunch of comments and edits poking holes to improve my work. Other times, it felt like I had a long way to go before I reached the quality I knew I was capable of.

At the end of the day though, the question is:

Would you rather know, or not know?

I'm thankful for the colleagues I've had over the years who cared enough to be direct with me. wes_kao [type:: tweet]
Founders: in your demos you want to be going for “oh wow” moments.

Because the status quo is your enemy, you need strong emotional responses to your product to catalyze a desire to change.

If you’re not hearing “oh wow” in your demo, you should be worried.

Wrong script. Product isn’t there yet. Wrong target prospect. Something else.

You need “wows.” Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Going upmarket doesn’t mean you have to piss off your smaller (SMB) customers. But it is inevitably what most teams end up doing. Why? Because someone with enough authority decides to be data-driven instead of data-informed. Usually because of short-term reactive thinking. hnshah [type:: tweet]
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Epictetus RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Henry Ford: What’s your mood got to do with it? https://t.co/OyDvDk0dbq FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
There will come a day when your anger leaves you.

It may be on your last day.

Then you can see the world as it is.

And live again. naval [type:: tweet]
Founders: Be so expert in your market that your prospects reach out to you for professional advice. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Churchill: https://t.co/dbk1CZQPVU FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
What are 1-2 time management techniques you've implemented that genuinely help you get more/better work done day-to-day? lennysan [type:: tweet]
James Cameron:

Run toward difficult. There’s less competition. https://t.co/WArZGy83FL FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/i4s2TEICqD QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
If you think customers ought to love the feature, but they don’t use it, either…
1. You’re wrong
2. You haven’t made it intuitive
It’s usually (1).

If so, don’t just remove the feature; figure out what your incorrect assumptions are, so you don’t repeat the error. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
🚙 Driving long distances in a car is very tiring.

🥱 I felt sleepy and I constantly want some coffee/Red Bull.

🤢 I discovered that CO2 level was 9,100 ppm (fresh air is ~420 ppm).

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 4 people in the car = 4x higher CO2.

😫 Using AC with closed window didn't help.

💨 So, I opened each car window slightly to allow airflow, which reduced the CO2 level to 680 ppm.

❄️ Also, I'm using AC to keep the temperature cooler than the outside temperature of 36°C.

✅ Now, I can drive for 5 hours straight without needing coffee or Red Bull. AndreyAzimov [type:: tweet]
"Uncertainty, not outcome, is the root of stress."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
“Rather than chase what makes you happy, design a life where you avoid the things that make you unhappy.”

This is wise because often we don’t know what will make us happy, or it changes over time.

Whereas, you do know what makes you unhappy.

It’s easier to execute. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
“Don't procrastinate. Don't confuse. Don't wander. Don't be passive or aggressive. Don't be all about business.” ― Marcus Aurelius dailystoic [type:: tweet]
The two-minute rule specifies that you have to give someone an uninterrupted two minutes to explain their thinking before jumping in with your own. This ensures that everyone has time to fully crystallize and communicate their thoughts without worrying they will be misunderstood or drowned out by a louder voice.

#principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon: https://t.co/MpqEEkQKcY saranormous [type:: tweet]
South Park creators gave the greatest lesson on storytelling ever https://t.co/I0P7aNk0NG historyinmemes [type:: tweet]
One of the most powerful things you can do as a founder is to jump into a job and demonstrate the “art of the possible“.

Have an opportunity creation issues in your SDR team? Demonstrate that you can put five meetings on the calendar per week.

Have a meeting activity problem in your account management team? Block a couple weeks of your own time and demonstrate how you can do three customer facing meetings today without breaking a sweat.

It’s amazing what happens when you erase excuses from parts of your organization. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Advice from a mentor that changed my life:

There’s no such thing as a perfect moment. There are just moments—and you decide what you make of them.

Go make some imperfect moments perfect through action. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
A tiered design lawn in Shanghai, with shady trees overhead, a favorite for office workers to take lunch breaks. https://t.co/a5uj0ZhbS5 historyinmemes [type:: tweet]
Honestly when trying to find outlier founders, a large part of it is finding the autist nerds who will go infinitely deep on a particular topic that happens to be extremely valuable for making something people want

Then once you’ve found the market seam you have to be generalist enough to fully realize it, build a team and capture the market fully garrytan [type:: tweet]
A piece of brutally honest advice to my younger self: https://t.co/SMYZhLyJAr SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Too often groups will make a decision to do something without assigning personal responsibilities, so it is not clear who is supposed to follow up by doing what. Be clear in assigning personal responsibilities.

#principleoftheday https://t.co/HSgQMlZ1Fw RayDalio [type:: tweet]
The best thing about @elonmusk is that he makes me question if I’m thinking big enough with my life.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Founder Mode Take

Founders shouldn’t be afraid to exercise more control & make more decisions just because they are the founders. Sometimes you just know.

But: sometimes you will be wrong, and sometimes you will be catastrophically wrong. Founders taking more control creates a wider distribution of outcomes, on both the left & right side of the curve.

Feels similar to how having a good King can create an amazing country, but a bad king can self-destruct an entire empire.

For countries you do want a narrower distribution of outcomes.

But for venture-backed startups you want a wider distribution of outcomes. TrevMcKendrick [type:: tweet]
For a long time, dementia was seen as an inevitable part of aging or the result of poor genetics.

But according to new research:

More than 40% of dementia cases are easily preventable.

Here's what you can do to slow your cognitive decline: https://t.co/LM3XAOA3gc seanpk [type:: tweet]
In @levelsio style, I have an 8% success rate. https://t.co/pRWw1m6EWz thepatwalls [type:: tweet]
my hypothesis on the future of software

billion dollar saas companies are cooked

marginal cost of building software products is going to 0

in the next 2 years I'll be able to build any saas tool I need

need a CRM ?

prompt, 1..2..3.. and its made

just for me + with every feature you need

and its free

many startups/giants today will crumble

the only software products that will remain will have the following criteria
- network effects ( social products )
- superior design ( products that feel better )
- distribution ( can reach more people )
tbh the real winners are gonna be the content creators

as # of products increase -> # of companies competing for the same markets/creators increase -> increasing the value of creators

the oil of today is attention

but it will be the diamonds of tomorrow

having a personal brand will be a superpower aribk24 [type:: tweet]
Finished reading this masterpiece on probabilistic thinking and effective decision making. https://t.co/JlNwBjEXZd Gautam__Baid [type:: tweet]
1/ Every white collar role will have a co-pilot. Then an agent. Which roles might change most? @dacostajam & I took at look at the Bureau of Labor statistics to inspire some ideas 👇 https://t.co/TSJTK1dDto astrange [type:: tweet]
Opportunities unfold as you execute and learn, not as you whiteboard and ideate. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Underrated signs of a high performer:

• They hate small talk.
• Are not okay with wasting your time.
• Do what they say they’re going to do.
• Do it with urgency.
• Are obsessed, not just interested.

What am I missing? https://t.co/vgOA5RRoAx Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
The smarter you are, the faster you see through any given game. naval [type:: tweet]
It’s not "Don’t compete on price."

It’s "Don’t compete ONLY on price."

Price is part of what the product is. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I have found triangulating with highly believable people who are willing to have thoughtful disagreements has never failed to enhance my learning and sharpen the quality of my decision making.

#Principleoftheday https://t.co/TdwkE96yu6 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
“Time” is a zero-sum game:

More spent in one area means less in others.

To be exceptional in any area requires a lot of time, even if you also have talent.

Therefore, you should spend little time in most areas.

Rid yourself of perfectionism; embrace prioritization. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Retirement starts when you stop sacrificing today for some imaginary tomorrow.

You retire by saving up enough money, becoming a monk, or by finding work that feels like play to you.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Finding customers is hard.
Getting them to talk to you is hard.
Getting them to pay you for product is hard.
Standing out in the noise is hard.

That’s why you’re still coding, even though that’s not solving any of those problems.

Stop it.

https://t.co/7OQWDagW1o asmartbear [type:: tweet]
first time founders care about product
second time founders care about distribution
third time founders care about retention Suhail [type:: tweet]
You could write code for the next six months without stopping, and you wouldn’t be one centimeter closer to understanding what customers actually want, or how the market works, or what to charge, or how to get attention.

Put the compiler down.

https://t.co/7OQWDagW1o asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Everyone says "have passion to succeed," but you also need competence. And luck. And something that other people actually value.

Passion is not sufficient, sorry. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The single most important trait for life: https://t.co/7noC5yR4xV SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/ETVVBzNSxM QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
5 Essential Exercises to Strengthen Your Back Muscles:
1. https://t.co/4ir4GsBhDz MoralFitnezz [type:: tweet]
🤣🤣 elonmusk [type:: tweet]
Complex decisions and processes are almost always about selecting between entire sets of trade-offs, and not about hard constraints or exceptionless rules.

Which means accepting the negative side of the trade-off. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
It’s rare for intelligence and drive to intersect in one person.

When they do, look out. naval [type:: tweet]
Jeff Bezos on decision making with intuition vs data. https://t.co/DWjTj2FlFQ hnshah [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/XqTSjUQH5w QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
Perfectionists spend too much time on little differences at the margins at the expense of the important things.

#Principleoftheday https://t.co/MUy6aji99I RayDalio [type:: tweet]
The basis for friendship, relationship, partnership - isn’t proximity or time spent together - it’s values. naval [type:: tweet]
"Service as Software" is Silicon Valley's hottest buzzword right now.

Everyone's talking about SaaS becoming service providers, but no one's explaining HOW. The answer? After 6 months of research and 100s of startup conversations, we have the answer: Systems of Agents.

We're looking at a $4.6T opportunity. JayaGup10 [type:: tweet]
true https://t.co/MSfEOi1p7c QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
no one is waiting for you https://t.co/LTgrgNmTtj IterIntellectus [type:: tweet]
the deeper i go into programming the more i realize that almost everything is just data flow: if you can figure out how the data should flow, you nail 80% of it. maharshii [type:: tweet]
Nikola Tesla on solitude. ✍️ https://t.co/8DU6lSMlf0 PhysInHistory [type:: tweet]
Two products, identical in features.

One is cheaper.

The other is delightful to use.

Which makes more money? More profit? More word of mouth? More fun to build?

Compete on the right stuff. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Neuronal firing in the brain. Feels like the universe https://t.co/ggKjipDcc1 aether_coin [type:: tweet]
Restricting sugar exposure in the first two years of life can meaningfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood.

We need to rethink many cereals, snacks, and treats for children.

https://t.co/P0cTOtpLNV ChrisPalmerMD [type:: tweet]
— William Shakespeare https://t.co/8PKNUKrjJf Lovandfear [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/f6IYY460KL shantanukmr [type:: tweet]
Single people vote for themselves. Married people vote for their kids. naval [type:: tweet]
Good teams fail faster so they can succeed faster. naval [type:: tweet]
The singular trait of a leader is courage. naval [type:: tweet]
I used to think the most influential thinkers were:

Einstein, Nietzsche, or Freud.

Then I found the father of analytical psychology, who said: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

5 ideas from one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century: 🧵 GeniusGTX [type:: tweet]
And maybe because they're working another 2hr/day.

Or maybe because they're spending their time on the right tasks.

Or maybe because they're doing stuff instead of reading more than necessary. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Why is top-line growth the holy grail for SaaS success? Because it implies everything else is functioning well: product/market fit, retention, customer acquisition. Plus, it drives the highest equity value.

And yet, it’s not the only important metric:

https://t.co/IwJzk6iCpu asmartbear [type:: tweet]
How to stay calm (with simple questions): https://t.co/4RSEZmmtSD _alexbrogan [type:: tweet]
Deep talk with your partner https://t.co/eAqtNgfMYi Liminal1988 [type:: tweet]
How To Write - by David Ogilvy, 1982 https://t.co/hkLnenvjje tlghost_co [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs on the most important job of a CEO

“The greatest people are self-managing. They don’t need to be managed. Once they know what to do, they’ll go figure out how to do it… What they need is a common vision, and that’s what leadership is. Leadership is having a vision, being able to articulate that so the people around you can understand it, and getting consensus on a common vision.”

Steve continues:

“We wanted people who were insanely great at what they did… and the neatest thing that happens when you get a core group ten great people is that it becomes self-policing as to who they let into that group. So I consider the most important job of someone like myself is recruiting.” StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
CSS-only magnetic link effect 🤯

li:has(a:is(:hover, :focus-visible)) {anchor-name: --a; }
ul::before {
left: anchor(--a left);
width: anchor-size(--a width);
}

using CSS anchor positioning, declare an anchor on hover for the indicator 🚀 https://t.co/or4LLSzAVB jh3yy [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs' emailed himself ~1 year before he died.

My mind wouldn't shut up after I read it. https://t.co/A6PPMiyC02 _alexbrogan [type:: tweet]
INTIMACY IN A RELATIONSHIP https://t.co/KqMgdEkzPN Liminal1988 [type:: tweet]
Going all in on something for a month gets better results than dabbling in it for a decade.

The dabbler spreads their energy over many things. The focused person concentrates effort on one.

The most dangerous competitor is the one with a single goal. shaneparrish [type:: tweet]
When you stop writing, you start allowing others to do the thinking for you.

@JeffBezos on how writing improves your thinking https://t.co/D4cOCgUMtY ValaAfshar [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/m47Jteaj4X aphysicist [type:: tweet]
If there’s one quote to live by for the next 4 years - https://t.co/KsqiEmK4TC mrexits [type:: tweet]
Remember. naval [type:: tweet]
I feel like I constantly don’t have enough time.

Not because I can’t get anything done, but because I’m never satisfied with how much is done.

I’m always thinking about the next step.

Bad for stress, good for productivity. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
ROMANTIC LOW-COST ACTIVITIES https://t.co/9gTEhxymT8 Liminal1988 [type:: tweet]
Small markets are good if you can be #1.

Large markets contain niches that are too small for incumbents to target but perfect for startups; there's budget and people are searching for it.

So, that's often better.

https://t.co/8TZHTocjw0 asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Dear son, https://t.co/TNmhHTNitp DearS_o_n [type:: tweet]
"I have never seen ordinary effort lead to extraordinary results."

— Alexandr Wang paulg [type:: tweet]
Truth-seekers take feedback from nature (planes have to fly), free markets (customers have to buy), or competition (militaries have to win).

Consensus-seekers take feedback from people (actors want fans, academics want honors, politicians want votes, journalists want status). naval [type:: tweet]
Mark Zuckerberg: “You can’t 80/20 everything”

When Facebook first launched, a user’s profile included things like the dorm they lived in and the courses they were taking.

Paul Graham asks Mark if he thinks Facebook would’ve worked without these features, to which Mark replies:

“I remember this early debate that Dustin [Moskovitz] and I had where we had to do some manual work for every school that we released Facebook at. To do that, we went through and parsed the course catalogs at the schools to make sure that the data was clean.”

Dustin argued that it would be easier to launch new schools if they didn’t parse these catalogs, while Mark thought this would be an unacceptable drop in quality.

“We just had this really long debate about what quality meant for us and the community that we wanted to establish and the culture. In retrospect, maybe it wouldn’t have made a huge difference in how things played out. But it definitely set this tone where there’s a lot of clean data on Facebook, you can rely on it, it feels like a college-specific thing—which was valuable early on for setting the culture.”

Mark then offers the following advice to the YC Startup School audience:

“In the projects you work on, you will have a lot of similar questions. There’s the famous 80/20 rule where you get 80% of the benefit by doing 20% of the work, but you can’t just 80/20 everything. There have to be certain things that you are just the best at and that you go way further than anyone else on to establish this quality bar and have your product be the best thing that’s out there.”

Video source: @ycombinator (2012) StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
Just watched my 5-year-old son chat with ChatGPT advanced voice mode for over 45 minutes.

It started with a question about how cars were made.

It explained it in a way that he could understand.

He started peppering it with questions.

Then he told it about his teacher, and that he was learning to count.

ChatGPT started quizzing him on counting, and egging him on, making it into a game.

He was laughing and having a blast, and it (obviously) never lost patience with him.

I think this is going to be revolutionary. The essentially free, infinitely patient, super genius teacher that calibrates itself perfectly to your kid's learning style and pace.

Excited about the future. awilkinson [type:: tweet]
In 31 years of age I think I’ve finally discovered the cure to depression and it’s just leaving the house at every single possible opportunity no matter how badly you don’t want to. jackcalifano [type:: tweet]
I code 7-8 hours with AI every day.

6 days of the week.

I tested all prominent tools in AI tech.
- v0
- Cursor
- Bolt .new
- Replit Agent
- Gptengineer
- Windsurf IDE
Here's my latest Ranking:

Most improved project in 14 days:

Bolt. new - 8/10
I am impressed by the output quality of bolt.

Just 2 weeks back it felt half baked. Now it is shaping into something good.

Great for coding Landing pages and micro saas (4-5 pages)

Most Versatile Project:

Replit Agent - 7/10
After Replit introduced React + Vite. It is now building applications with cool UI.

Still a bit slow. A bit over complicated

BUT moving in right direction.

I coded a modern landing page in 1 shot that i designed in v0.

Best in their domain:
Cursor - For coding
V0 - For frontend design

Half baked projects:

Windsurf IDE - 4/10
Disappointed with the output. It was breaking after 5th step every time.

Still need improvement:

GPTengineer - 4/10
Cool idea but competition is now super tough.

Bolt is moving at crazy pace. v0 improved context with context caching.

GPTengineer is still implementing 1 edit in one message.

Here's my tech stack as of today.

I use ChatGPT search for research
I use o1 model for documentation
I use v0 for frontend design
I use claude AI for coding brain
I use cursor for code implementation
I use replit to deploy projects

I feel like I can build any web app now with this stack in 5-7 days.

I'll be sharing some cool experiments in coming days.

Stay tuned. cjzafir [type:: tweet]
There are so many challenges to a company succeeding.

Only a few 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 be completely solved (like an enormous, growing market, or an ingenious solution to a really valuable problem).

If “everything” is a problem, that’s too many problems. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
An important truth: Preparation always beats planning. https://t.co/hBIoIU1POG SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
21 Leadership Lessons (I revisit once a week) https://t.co/yFzoc9wpTY dklineii [type:: tweet]
Guide to starting a US company as an international founder.

Here are ALL your options:
—O-1A /EB-1A visa
—International Entrepreneur Rule
—H-4, dependent on your spouse
—US citizen cofounder with transition timeline
—E-2 Treaty investor (not Indian / Chinese)
—EB-5 investor

1/9 deedydas [type:: tweet]
Want your kids to succeed? Praise effort and grit not talent.

Fascinating study. https://t.co/V0O2JczDr7 Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Modern luxury is the ability to think clearly, sleep deeply, move slowly, and live quietly in a world designed to prevent all four. thejustinwelsh [type:: tweet]
The best way to build products is to never get into the trap of imagining a user will do any work to figure out anything. The moment you start describing how a user will learn how something works you’ve designed the product wrong. levie [type:: tweet]
“Stay small until you figured out what's working.” — @naval https://t.co/8CEoaHR6Q2 readswithravi [type:: tweet]
The truth?

The gap between devs using AI right and those who aren't is about to explode.

This isn't about code completion anymore.

This is about code comprehension.

Building different in 2024 🚀 robj3d3 [type:: tweet]
Maybe the only documentary I regard as a "must watch"

and it's free on youtube https://t.co/ZtcZ8xOd6d DylanoA4 [type:: tweet]
True elonmusk [type:: tweet]
People waste years optimizing a life they don't want to live because they haven't taken the time to think about what they actually want to do. Obvious, but it bears repeating because so much online content is about little tips, tricks, and routines that miss the bigger picture. david_perell [type:: tweet]
Happiness (if you want it):*
1. Meet basic needs
2. Avoid cheap dopamine
3. Leave the past alone
4. Limit desires to ones achievable at the edge of your capability
5. Find something beyond yourself (mission, children, God)
*Most people want something else. naval [type:: tweet]
The ability to stay calm during conflict is a superpower.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Software engineers aren't lazy.

They just have no incentive to be productive at bigCos.

Here's why:
— No reward for simplicity / deleting things
— No prizes for doing it quickly (everyone assumes it was easy)
— Little interesting work. Business needs are often boring.

1/5 deedydas [type:: tweet]
Time to finally read this one. My lead engineer recommended it to me. Being web devs, we often overlook what our memory does. This serves as a good introduction to how memory works. https://t.co/bOb0GThOvP 0xmer_ [type:: tweet]
Life feels easier when we tell ourselves that everyone else is just as clueless as us. Winging it, like we are. Impostors, like us.

Many are, but that doesn’t mean you should be.

It also doesn’t mean you should feel bad about it, or beat yourself up about it, or that you don’t deserve to do whatever you’re doing.

It does means you should strive to be better. Yes you’re “good enough” now, but also don’t let that be the end of the journey. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/axhOklRtJw readswithravi [type:: tweet]
The price of growth is outgrowing people.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
"Before you start searching for happiness, think about it — maybe you are already happy?" — Dusko Radovic

I say: Try to be happy, but not complacent. Continue to strive. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The best investors have no use for spreadsheets. naval [type:: tweet]
“It’s not personal, it’s not business.”

Ha. Business is people. Business affects people. Business is personal.

If you bring this insight into your brand, you differentiate and win people over.

Some examples, and how to do it:

https://t.co/WMsL8dje4p asmartbear [type:: tweet]
This passage from Schopenhauer is so brilliantly brutal https://t.co/Cas53Ry8Zm DylanoA4 [type:: tweet]
@DividendGrowth Lower your expectations. Take disappointment as a beautiful reminder that your hope may be misplaced. Appreciate the good life brings you.

It's easier said than done and always a work in progress. KrisRymer [type:: tweet]
@DividendGrowth - marry the right person
- have kids
- don’t buy anything you can’t afford w/cash (other than primary home), avoid credit card debt at all costs
- invest ~/>25% of your post tax income every month in long term assets (ie SP500, QQQ) w/10+ year view
- visit parents regularly
🤞 jrichlive [type:: tweet]
Why does every project feel like it's never delivered on time based on initial estimates?

Dave Stewart explains the hidden work within the work in an excellent visual.

The entire post can be found at davestewart's blog post "the work is never just the work" https://t.co/0j6AI15ywa ParvSondhi [type:: tweet]
So long as you bear the consequences of failure, you are the ultimate Responsible Party.
#principlesoftheday https://t.co/FSzwaLyX36 RayDalio [type:: tweet]
just 2 dudes in 2003 not realizing they just made one of the best songs ever https://t.co/p4Z4C9jjZt FearedBuck [type:: tweet]
if you're interested in AI Agents -- this podcast episode was great.

I wrote my big takeaways / notes on this google doc:

https://t.co/VI6qHFpZqb https://t.co/c0Fu2BTRV9 ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
the next wave of startups won't launch with marketing teams

they'll launch with AI agents running everything 24/7 - from content to acquisition to analytics.

this isn't future talk. quietly there are founders who are printing with growth ai agents right now (but they won't tweet about it).

imagine your acquisition agent runs 50 meme accounts simultaneously, testing hooks across different niches, generating 1000 posts daily until it finds what hits.

your research agent analyzes 100k tweets per hour, finding unmet needs and feature requests that no one's building for.

your content agent creates 200 unique hooks daily across X, linkedin, and tiktok, learning from each response, optimizing for what works.

your community agent welcomes every new user personally, handles support tickets in seconds, and turns feedback into feature priorities.

your SEO agent generates 500 pages of perfect content daily, while your ads agent tests 1000 creative variations across platforms, automatically killing what doesn't work. we already use this at @boringmarketer

your email agent writes and tests 50 different sequences, personalizing every message based on user behavior. your analytics agent spots trends before humans could, adjusting strategy in real-time.

the growth stack becomes fully automated, working 24/7. you get the idea.

you pay per result.

what previously required 20 people and $2M in salary now happens automatically with $2k in agent costs. one founder becomes as powerful as a funded startup. customer acquisition becomes predictable.

growth becomes systematic.

winners will be whoever has access to the best agent stack first, whoever has the taste to listen to the right signals and whoever can find the right niche at the right time.

fun to think about because you can see it already start to happen.

game on. gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
15 Hard Truths of Psychology and Life:
1. https://t.co/46pyb0Upwr Wisdom_HQ [type:: tweet]
Easier said than done but great advice from ⁦@naval⁩ . https://t.co/yE1lHOpvDz PeterMallouk [type:: tweet]
Many of you have asked me about finding a work-life balance, so I wanted to share some of the principles that have helped me to achieve this. I have found that I can squeeze a whole lot more life into life by knowing how to do a few of these very well. #principleoftheday https://t.co/ZosXPwHdKc RayDalio [type:: tweet]
SAP, Oracle, Salesforce are about to become this generation's Kodak.

Not from better features. Not from the cloud. But from the sudden realization that its core assumption - humans must translate their work for computers - just became obsolete. Every major enterprise company built empires worth hundreds of billions on structured data entry. That foundation isn't just crumbling. It's about to vanish entirely. Here's why... JayaGup10 [type:: tweet]
"Tracking"

We're entering an age where everything becomes measurable.

The Internet of Things will grow from $478B to $2.4T by 2029.

Every object, every process, every movement will have a digital pulse. https://t.co/wGQu075c2C GCcookeHQ [type:: tweet]
v0 is officially cooked.

Full stack apps? Forget about it.

@lovable_dev absolutely blows v0 out of the water.

It's not even close.

This is the smoothest Supabase integration with an AI coding agent I've ever seen. 👀 https://t.co/yghnjmmV2t weswinder [type:: tweet]
If you don't let up on yourself and instead become comfortable always operating with some level of pain, you will evolve at a faster pace. That's just the way it is.

#principleoftheday https://t.co/4OnkTES4Rj RayDalio [type:: tweet]
prediction: by 2026, AI will know your company better than your CEO

current:
• humans forget after 7 days
• people switch jobs every 2y
• context dies in slack
• same mistakes repeat

future AI:
"actually, we tried this in 2024. here's the exact meeting, context, and 3 alternatives we never explored"

perfect memory wins 🧠 louis030195 [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/dOQ71Zd75h zarathustra5150 [type:: tweet]
Don’t ask customers: “Would you use this feature?”

Even if they say “yes,” they often won’t, and you didn’t learn anything else.

Instead say:

“Walk me through your workflow, in which you would use this feature.”

They’ll often get tripped up; then you’ve learned. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
13 questions that will change your life: ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
In an idea meritocracy, there is bound to be more disagreement than in a typical organization, but when it's taken to an extreme, arguing and nitpicking can undermine the idea meritocracy's effectiveness. #principleoftheday https://t.co/sZzuCoUbBq RayDalio [type:: tweet]
If you’re not getting at least 10 new, paying customers per weekday, you should not be doing anything with the word “scale” in it.

Rather, you should be seeking how to get to 10 new, paying customers per weekday.

(Unless average MRR > $100) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
AI startups seem to grow faster than previous startups. But this is just the latest stage in a consistent trend over the last 50 years. Each decade's startups grow faster than the previous decade's. paulg [type:: tweet]
Increasingly believe that the "good, cheap, fast—choose two" maxim is devious misinformation spread by the slow.

In my experience, "slow" and "expensive" usually go together. I was in a meeting yesterday where lopping a year off a project schedule also ended up reducing the cost substantially. Fundamentally, it takes time to spend, and adding the temporal constraint tends to make things simpler and more efficient. patrickc [type:: tweet]
The holidays are the best time for working. Everyone who usually interrupts you isn't. paulg [type:: tweet]
@jacobin Someone has to make final big decisions. Few people are capable of doing it reliably for years on end. Lots of businesses want people that capable; bidding for them gets high.

Divide CEO $ by workers.
It’s worth ~$0.01 per worker per hour to ensure there’s a job. ctdonath [type:: tweet]
Caught up with some AI startups recently. A two founder team that reached 1.5m ARR and has only hired one person. Another single founder at 1m ARR and will 3x within a few months. The trajectory of early startups is steepening just like the power of the models they’re built on. harjtaggar [type:: tweet]
The best automatic email I’ve ever received after a cancellation.

Churn happens with every service, but what truly matters is how you respond to it.

Great job, @cursor_ai team! https://t.co/x6T0Y43XHk AndreyNovikoov [type:: tweet]
One of the best advice on reading by @naval: https://t.co/AHDiBSZ0nn readswithravi [type:: tweet]
Unpopular hard truth... Best hires blow you away week one.

Never seen a slow starter become a top performer. Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
Cursor Pro Tip:

Create a "Project Status" file to track your progress.

At the end of every coding session, ask Cursor to review the conversation and update this file with what has been implemented and what’s next.

Next time, simply prompt Cursor to "read the project status," and it’ll instantly know where you left off and what to do next.

Try it out! PrajwalTomar_ [type:: tweet]
apps worth testing over the holiday season 2024-2025 https://t.co/8yLbpBXTFf gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
Understanding profit https://t.co/9XbgSD0Wb0 TheDealTrader_ [type:: tweet]
Wise words from a true genius
https://t.co/fm3jzQfPJZ elonmusk [type:: tweet]
@elonmusk Milton Friedman explains why redistribution of wealth often does more harm than good. https://t.co/e4wDStju5R TheImmortal007 [type:: tweet]
The Transformer's encoder clearly explained 👇🏻 https://t.co/nEvMkFlFsi iamjosepferrer [type:: tweet]
Most founders have an amazing product.

But zero marketing strategy.

I grew to $5k MRR with:

• Reddit comments
• Quora answers
• X engagement
• Community building

Stop obsessing over features.

Start obsessing over distribution. mayakyler [type:: tweet]
Do yourself a favor and read this.

Written in 1982, this remains as relevant as ever: https://t.co/niKhUOOnSs BigBrainMkting [type:: tweet]
Database design used to take me hours, until I discovered this workflow that saves time AND delivers scalable results.

Here’s how I do it:
1. Input the PRD into ChatGPT (I use GPT-o1, but GPT-4o works just as well).
2. Ask it to create a detailed, scalable database design:
• Define tables.
• Outline their purposes.
• Specify relationships.

Once I’m satisfied, I save the output to https://t.co/QcbDiKrykg file and store it in Cursor for easy reference throughout development.

This workflow is a game changer. Quick, efficient, and incredibly effective. PrajwalTomar_ [type:: tweet]
My favorite books, 2024
by @emollick @firstadopter @anilananth @harari_yuval @carlzimmer and other great authors not on X https://t.co/NTeQURx8Z8 EricTopol [type:: tweet]
20 Books To Read In 2025 https://t.co/T0HrT4hi0O librarymindset [type:: tweet]
Struggling with PRD? Here’s the simple format I use that works every time.
1. Introduction: Explain the problem you’re solving and the vision for the product. This sets the context for everyone involved.
2. Objectives & Goals: Highlight the main outcomes the product should achieve. What’s the core purpose?
3. Target Users & Roles: Identify who will use the product (e.g., clients, admins) and what actions they need to perform.
4. Core Features for MVP: List the must-have features to deliver value quickly and validate the product.
5. Future Scope: Outline features that can be added later. This helps clients think beyond the MVP without overloading the first phase.
6. User Journey: Map out how users interact with the product step by step. Cover all roles for complete clarity.
7. Tech Stack: Define the tools, frameworks, and APIs you’ll use to build the product.
You don’t need to overcomplicate things. Just focus on Core Features for MVP and Future Scope to ensure the client has a clear roadmap. That’s all you need to get started! PrajwalTomar_ [type:: tweet]
As Carl Jung put it, "Man needs difficulties. They are necessary for health." Yet most people instinctually avoid pain. This is true whether we are talking about building the body (e.g., weight lifting) or the mind (e.g., frustration, mental struggle, embarrassment, shame)--and especially true when people confront the harsh reality of their own imperfections. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Y Combinator on how to focus on the right problems: https://t.co/ae4ny8B2gP benln [type:: tweet]
A lot of startups begin because the founder was irked by some trivial thing, and decided to build an entire company rather than remain irked.

Not "mission," not "change the world."

Maybe “irked” is enough, but maybe that’s part of why so many fail?

What do you think? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Adding toothpaste to Coca-Cola
https://t.co/jjO65GGHRE Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
He introduced Jobs to his three-pillar marketing philosophy:
1. Empathy
2. Focus
3. Imputing
These ideas shaped Apple’s products, branding, and connection with customers.

Let’s go over each one. https://t.co/M04DlTAaFC penunurialex [type:: tweet]
I've never read faster than this.

/explanation in thread https://t.co/QCyO7wpkUH BigBrainPsych [type:: tweet]
Why the parentified daughter ends up with the avoidant, passive son.

This thread will help you understand your relationships: Theholisticpsyc [type:: tweet]
What tool that your company spends at least $1000/yr on do you hate the most? adamwathan [type:: tweet]
Some of my favorite books from 2024 (in no particular order): A Brief History of Intelligence by @maxsbennett
If you have an interest in evolution, the mind, and artificial intelligence, this one is for you. I would love to take a course based on this book https://t.co/IU3m6jMleJ mjmauboussin [type:: tweet]
Stanford has launched an incredible research AI tool.

It’s called STORM, and basically you enter a topic and it will search hundreds of websites to write an article about its major findings.

Available to everyone for free! https://t.co/lMge85hNpP dr_cintas [type:: tweet]
Discovered this new aesthetic today. Kinda neat.

It’s called Japandi = the combination of Japanese + Scandinavian design. https://t.co/oNCuDz2AGk andruyeung [type:: tweet]
15 Deep Psychology And Philosophy Quotes From "Buddha"

| Thread https://t.co/Y2VgeFDeGp MindMatterMoney [type:: tweet]
Self Discovery Questions: https://t.co/mMpoIHFdDw UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
Good day to remember just how big that green tree is https://t.co/KIow2bMB70 waitbutwhy [type:: tweet]
“I have the greatest opportunity I have ever had and I'm in for everything.” FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
Some restaurants serve exactly one thing for lunch. Obvious efficiency and good prices, but does only one thing.

Some have a theme. Some serve an unbelievable variety, all mediocre. Some are great at P, terrible at Q.

What kind of software company are you? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
8 Rules to follow in life...
1. https://t.co/F0hqKHCdPf SeekWiser_ [type:: tweet]
#principleoftheday https://t.co/9fBaaxkPBA RayDalio [type:: tweet]
G. K. Chesterton on courage, beautiful https://t.co/CDjimAFxaC DylanoA4 [type:: tweet]
@paulg Another one: For anything you want to achieve, ask "why have I not already achieved it yet"

For example if you want to lose weight, why haven't you already lost it?

Half the time it's about removing some blocks or mistakes, and not about adding something new LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said. QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
Every human life contains a potential, if that potential is not fulfilled, then that life was wasted. QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/ec7Obh2rkJ QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
1. Gaint golden - Crowded flying fox https://t.co/45aZ2eZu4H TAdventurousoul [type:: tweet]
Design and details aren't unimportant, but most subtle marketing efforts get drowned out by the constant distractions of the internet and modern life.

Focus on the big things before you fine-tune the little things.

https://t.co/KUXMFIswTZ asmartbear [type:: tweet]
AI won’t replace programmers, but rather make it easier for programmers to replace everyone else. naval [type:: tweet]
Alright tell me a movie that made you stare blankly at a wall for 20 minutes after it finished. One that you couldn’t stop thinking about and made you question everything. flynnslick [type:: tweet]
Transformers made so simple your grandma can understand

great comprehensive blog on how and why transformers works + implementing them in code https://t.co/lYh8biSN3I Hesamation [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/MGkp2pDSWe SeffSaid [type:: tweet]
This book is a mind-blowing read. https://t.co/ohM1brl7jY readswithravi [type:: tweet]
We are so back.

AI can only automate 24% of real world tasks autonomously, according to The Agent Company.

This new AI benchmark tests AI on coding, planning, and even team chats, and reveals where it still falls short.

A Thread 🧵👇 https://t.co/u6hrTLnyY6 minchoi [type:: tweet]
It's not that we chase complexity -- it chases us.

It doesn't do so loudly, but quietly and insidiously.

There is no declaration that it's out to get us.

It quietly creeps in to whatever we're doing and leverages the laws of the universe to increase chaos and disorder.

You don't ever conquer complexity.

The best you can do is keep it at bay.

But if you do work hard for simplicity, you are rewarded with success.

#FightForSimplicity (one of @HubSpot's core guiding principles). dharmesh [type:: tweet]
2025 resolutions. My brutally honest takeaways from the early stages of building new companies (not just startups).

Catch the Tornado launches a new company roughly every 6 months. Here’s what I’ve learned (usually the hard way). https://t.co/fPpRR6cxhv tomik99 [type:: tweet]
Gemini Deep Research is mind-blowing.

Asked it for the Best Software Engineering blogs and it compiled the best of the best from Netflix, Spotify, Meta, Airbnb, Pinterest, Stripe, Square, Github, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, Amazon and more!

Here's a link: https://t.co/vytwfcsdFI deedydas [type:: tweet]
Flexibility is what allows you to accept what reality (or knowledgeable people) teaches you; self-accountability is essential because if you really believe that failing to achieve a goal is your personal failure, you will see your failing to achieve it as indicative that you haven't been creative or flexible or determined enough to do what it takes. And you will be that much more motivated to find the way.

#principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
it’s remarkable that some of my most-used apps, like chatgpt & claude, don’t yet send push notifications.

the opportunity here isn’t just about notifications—it’s about rethinking how an ai communicates proactively. what does it mean for an ai to initiate contact? how does it decide when to speak up, what to say, & in what context? personalization becomes critical: what signals matter, how do you emulate the nuance of a friend checking in, & where does utility meet emotional intelligence?

right now, ai systems are almost entirely pull-based—you have to engage them first. shifting to a push paradigm while keeping it helpful, non-intrusive, & even friendly is a probably the most fun design & product challenge today. getting that balance right will unlock a completely new level of interaction. we haven’t begun to scratch any of these surfaces—this is inning one. signulll [type:: tweet]
Marc Andreessen on how to hire the best people: https://t.co/e7WOCuHRrd benln [type:: tweet]
1. First reasoning model to have access to Internet
  https://t.co/HglzesuNCR minchoi [type:: tweet]
i have noticed that LLMs like claude and gpt-4o work really well with this prompt, it instructs them to 'contemplate' for a bit before giving the final answer. https://t.co/9o5Q9M2Atv maharshii [type:: tweet]
“Focus on only one thing!”

(One ICP, one marketing channel, one pain-point, …)

It’s true, this is how to achieve uniqueness and greatness.

But very early on, you don’t know what those things are.

So, (1) always have a theory (2) that you are testing and changing. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I also agree.

Every product I've ever launched was awful in the beginning.

One lesson learned: It's easy to take an awful product in which there is strong interest and make it better. It's really hard to take a great product in which there is little/no interest and increase interest.

Best to figure out level of interest in the market early, and that can usually be done with an "early" product. dharmesh [type:: tweet]
Custom Styles for Claude are great, and more people should use them.

Here's the one I use for coding, which beats all the rest and, I promise you, will make a difference. https://t.co/1ecLrmuIKP skirano [type:: tweet]
I've noticed the most successful men minimize the time between idea and action.

Speed is king. TheJackBly [type:: tweet]
Yes! My entire to do list every day is now created by my users

They submit bugs and ideas for new features in the board below, and I work on them and then mark them as ✅ Complete

I really like this setup, kinda like direct democracy for startups

https://t.co/cvTALxfwUN https://t.co/rIqcBMSvpP levelsio [type:: tweet]
Some people think perfectionism is at odds with shipping fast. Wrong. Shipping fast is how you get closer to perfection. rauchg [type:: tweet]
no one remembers the ideas you launched that went nowhere

just do things https://t.co/gQ3wZ8RM6g gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
Deep talk with your partner https://t.co/Gi1ziNpJXF ScholarshipfPhd [type:: tweet]
THE HIGH ENERGY MANIFESTO

It is not enough to be high iq.

You must also be high energy. https://t.co/bNgynte0xU GRITCULT [type:: tweet]
Most people build systems to prevent problems. But the best systems make problems visible faster. Speed of detection beats quality of prevention. hnshah [type:: tweet]
The single most important book on parenting that I’ve read.

It’s well written and argued, rests on strong philosophical foundations, and flies completely in the face of the entire current system.

https://t.co/3JLrCSNSym naval [type:: tweet]
@crostipunctus @naval Parenting isn’t about control
it’s about connection.

Creativity over coercion.
Freedom over force.

Future generations deserve this shift today. VoxFern [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/YOFVg6LHKe Mind_Essentials [type:: tweet]
Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI on the upcoming Agents. Amazing article in Times. https://t.co/M2lQNRjoMR kimmonismus [type:: tweet]
Would you be happy, if the project you’re working on is the last one you’ll complete before you die?

If not, is it directly helping your next step in life, e.g. more money, career, learning, experiences, joy?

If not, maybe it’s not the right project. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Focus starts with elimination, improves with concentration, and compounds with continuation. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
This is wild!

Hailuo AI just dropped MiniMax-01, an industry-first foundation models with Lightning Attention.

And it supports mind blowing 4 MILLION token context size, that’s the entire Harry Potter series three times over!

Why it’s a game-changer and how to try: https://t.co/63z0bapTNL minchoi [type:: tweet]
🚨MARC ANDREESSEN: "There's a way to measure the pace of technology change in the economy: it's productivity growth. It's a metric for how quickly an economy year over year is able to produce more output with less input. It's also the metric that captures the downstream impact on unemployment.

In the 50 years (between 1920-1970) productivity growth moved 2-3x higher and starting 1971 it took a permanent downshift and never recovered. It's been generationally low now for two generations."

ROBINSON: "When Ronald Reagan took office, Federal debt was about 32% of GDP. Today it's 126%. The whole game is going to be getting productivity up, correct?"

ANDREESSEN: "You have to. That's where economic growth comes from. If productivity growth is high you will have lots of job transformations but you will have a growing economy and an economic hayday and there will be opportunity everywhere. Everyone will be really cheerful -- that's a consequence of productivity growth.

If you care about the country and it's people what you want is GROWTH. Things are going to change, but people will see opportunities for themselves and their children. The enemy is not technological unemployment, the enemy is no growth. The enemy is to end up like the UK, or Germany, or Canada. They start ripping themselves apart with zero-sum politics because the only way to get something from nothing is to take it from someone else. It's the opposite in a productivity growth economy.

Rapid technological change would be a booming economy.

This is also the answer to stopping populism. You defang populism by growth." AutismCapital [type:: tweet]
I had a feeling of deja vu waiting for an overloaded ChatGPT to answer me. It was just like waiting for web pages to load in 1996. This is what the future feels like, when the new thing can barely keep up with demand, but people want it so much they endure the delays. paulg [type:: tweet]
The best execution metric isn't how fast you can build, it's how fast you can rebuild when you realize you were wrong. Optimize for change, not speed. hnshah [type:: tweet]
You don't have time to build anything except the thing that's special to you.

Leverage everything else.

It's OK if the "everything else" is "worse" than what you would do, because it's not important. It's not why the company will fail. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
How to compare your eng team's velocity to industry benchmarks (and increase your velocity):

Step 1: Send your eng team this 4-question survey to get a baseline on key metrics:
https://t.co/ppB30rnqx9

You can use any surveying tool to do this—Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, Typeform, etc.—just make sure you can view the responses in a spreadsheet in order to calculate averages. Important: responses must be anonymous to preserve trust, and this survey is designed for people who write code as part of their job.

Step 2: Calculate your how you're doing.
- For Speed, Quality, and Impact, find the average value for each question’s responses.
- For Effectiveness, calculate the percent of favorable responses (also called a Top 2 Box score) across all Effectiveness responses. See the example in the template above.
Step 3: Track velocity improvements over time.
Once you’ve got a baseline, you can start to regularly re-run this survey to track your progress. Use a quarterly cadence to begin with.
Benchmarking data, both internal and external, will help contextualize your results. Remember, speed is only relative to your competition.

Here are external benchmarks for the key metrics:

You can also download full benchmarking data, including segments on company size, sector, and even benchmarks for mobile engineers here: https://t.co/BN6hjVsBhy

Look at 75th percentile values for comparison initially. Being a top-quartile performer is a solid goal for any development team.

Step 4: Decide which area to improve first.
Look at your data and using benchmarking data as a reference point, pick which metric you believe will make the biggest impact on velocity.

To make this decision about what to work on to improve product velocity, drill down to the data on a team level, and also look at qualitative data from the engineers themselves.

Step 5: Link efficiency improvements to core business impact metrics
Instead of presenting these CI and release improvement projects as “tech debt repayment” or “workflow improvements” without clear goals and outcomes, you can directly link efficiency projects back to core business impact metrics.

Ongoing research (https://t.co/acIycjiGeU) continues to show a correlation between developer experience and efficiency, looking at data from 40,000 developers across 800 organizations. Improving the Effectiveness score (DXI) by one point translates to saving 13 minutes per week per developer, equivalent to 10 hours annually. With this org’s 150 engineers, improving the score by one point results in about 33 hours saved per week.

For much more, don't miss the full post: https://t.co/OzrcJFTJMO lennysan [type:: tweet]
Vitamin D supplementation was associated with a 40% lower risk of dementia over a decade, a relatively recent study shows.

After five years, 84% of supplement users were dementia-free compared to just 68% of non-users in a study of over 12,000 people. Vitamin D reduced dementia risk by 33% in adults with mild cognitive impairment or APOE e4, a key genetic risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases.

And while vitamin D reduced dementia risk across the board, some groups benefitted more.

Women, adults with normal cognition, APOE e4 non-carriers, and those without depression saw the greatest brain-protective effects from vitamin D supplementation.

Vitamin D’s brain-protective effects may stem from its unique role as a steroid hormone, structurally akin to estrogen and cortisol. It regulates thousands of genes, many of which govern critical brain processes—an effect consistent with findings from randomized controlled trials showing improvements in cognitive function and IQ scores in older adults.

PMID: 36874594 foundmyfitness [type:: tweet]
This is Jeff Bezos’s favorite book.

He’s been rereading it for 25 years straight, and it inspired his most famous decision-making model.

Here are the 7 lessons from "The Remains of the Day" that helped him build his $200B+ Amazon empire: 🧵 https://t.co/n7CwOl3UuL dickiebush [type:: tweet]
Here’s a simple, free productivity hack: Identify your MIT—Most Important Task—every day.

Before tackling your to-do list, ask: What’s the one thing that matters most today? Write it down. Then do it first. No distractions, no excuses. You don’t need to attend MIT to benefit from this approach—just focus on your own. DanielPink [type:: tweet]
Tolerating a problem has the same consequences as failing to identify it. Whether you tolerate it because you believe it cannot be solved, because you don't care enough to solve it, or because you can't muster enough of whatever it takes to solve it, if you don't have the will to succeed, then your situation is hopeless. You need to develop a fierce intolerance of badness of any kind, regardless of its severity. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
You want to work on that fun feature or learn Rust, but is that what your business needs?

Coding in isolation is easy and familiar.

Marketing and sales is an actual business.

Here’s the roadmap:

https://t.co/slGN2Hmjwb asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Most people who attack or compete with you will be opportunists. So if the thing you're working on is your life's work, all you have to do is keep going, and eventually they'll drop away. Once several generations of them have dropped away you'll even stop caring about new ones. paulg [type:: tweet]
Your product roadmap shouldn't be a wish list. It should be a list of hypotheses you're ready to be wrong about. If you're not ready to be wrong, you're not ready to prioritize. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Rates, flows, CPI, the Fed, rebalancings, options, volatility, narratives… all these things are just temporary market distractions. In the end, it’s always all about earnings.

“It’s the earnings, dumbass” - Wasteland proverb ⬇️ ecommerceshares [type:: tweet]
Blame yourself for everything, and preserve your agency. naval [type:: tweet]
Many parents believe that shielding their children from uncertainty is a hallmark of good parenting. This approach can unintentionally inhibit their children’s growth as development often arises from grappling with life’s uncertainties. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Dylan Field at Figma frames the impact of AI in one of the best ways: AI lowers the floor of access to a domain and raises the ceiling of productivity. The gains come from more people solving their own problems, and experts getting far more done than they could’ve before. https://t.co/rEYZxJ6PJ9 levie [type:: tweet]
AI is eating UI. naval [type:: tweet]
Search is UI on the web, and since AI is eating UI, AI will eat search. naval [type:: tweet]
The smartest people are all self-taught, even if they went to school. naval [type:: tweet]
"AI content doesn't sound human"

It does you're just using the wrong prompts

Full prompt and guide below 🧵 https://t.co/yH4txMSf8y ondrejbuilds [type:: tweet]
the $273B SaaS market is about to implode. basically, we'll stop paying thousands for generic software and start generating our perfect tools for like $99/month

we're about to go from "there's an app for that" to "there's your app for that."

today, we're all using project management tools, CRMs, and analytics dashboards built for the average user by bigsaas. which means they're perfect for absolutely no one. it's like wearing someone else's prescription glasses and pretending you can see 20/20.

it worked really for a time. but, lots of people wished some of this software was more flexible.

AI changes this.

instead of forcing our brains to work like generic software, we'll describe our perfect tool and have it generated in minutes.

the shift starts with productivity tools. the designer who organizes by color gets their perfect project dashboard. the trader who thinks in patterns gets their ideal analytics suite. the writer who connects ideas like constellations gets their dream note-taking app.

the entire SaaS market fragments. instead of 10 major players per category, we'll have millions of personal tools. the money moves from paying for generic software to paying for software generation.

and after we build out personal software, then we build our personal agents. it honestly sounds too good to be true, but this is the direction we are headed. speak into existence the tools and "people" to work on our businesses 24/7.

i bet big companies still use the large saas companies btw likely for security and habit reasons. they will enhance with personal software but still be dependent on bigsaas. but, when every dollar counts, smbs will be looking mostly dependent on personal software

there are thousands of startup ideas in this era of personal software era. example: build an AI software generator for restaurants and their unique workflows. then one for spa owners. then fitness trainers. then wedding planners.

each industry has its own weird way of working that generic software never understood.

the next billion-dollar company won't sell software. it'll sell software independence. gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
Teams get excited about building new things. But sometimes the highest-impact work is fixing what's already there. Don't prioritize new problems over existing pain. hnshah [type:: tweet]
If you're reading this, you probably have forward neck posture..

"Nerd neck" makes you dumber, less attractive, and can even cause hair loss

Here's how to fix it.. https://t.co/wvMSvAxfr2 itsconnorevans [type:: tweet]
All good ideas get copied. You need a business that's more than "the features."

This is also a reason to be in larger markets — there's space for everyone to make money, even with copy-cats. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Brain plasticity is your biggest asset. Use it carefully. https://t.co/KeYhMwPJ6p Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Dear son, https://t.co/f0UnoFIoan DearS_o_n [type:: tweet]
It only takes five minutes to break the cycle.

Five minutes of exercise and you are back on the path. Five minutes of writing and the manuscript is moving forward again. Five minutes of conversation and the relationship is restored.

It doesn't take much to feel good again. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
You should NOT give your kids rules for screen time, what they eat, or brushing their teeth.

At least this is what I heard on the @tferriss show with @naval and @astupple.

As a father to a 9-month old this caught my attention.

Some fascinating concepts I learned:

First, who's @astupple? Dr. Aaron Stupple is an internal medicine physician who spent 5 years as a public school teacher before medical school.

He wrote "The Sovereign Child" which advocates for a radical approach: taking children seriously as autonomous individuals.

Learning #1: Rules create adversarial relationships.

When you force a child to do something, you set yourself up as their opponent. Instead of "you must brush your teeth," explore why they're resistant and find creative solutions that help them understand the value.

Learning #2: Knowledge > Rules.

When kids understand why something matters (like germs eating their teeth), they make better choices than when following arbitrary rules. This understanding builds on itself, unlike disconnected rules that only work through enforcement.

Learning #3: Kids are natural learning machines.

They don't need to be forced to learn—they need freedom to explore their interests. What looks like "wasting time" on games or YouTube might be them developing sophisticated taste and judgment.

Learning #4: Trust matters more than compliance.

When you remove arbitrary rules, kids come to you with real problems because they see you as an ally, not an enforcer. This trust becomes crucial during teenage years when bigger risks emerge.

Learning #5: Kids can self-regulate.

Given freedom with food or screens, they usually don't overindulge forever. They might binge initially, but eventually develop their own understanding of moderation—just like adults do.

Learning #6: "Would you treat your spouse this way?"

This question becomes a useful filter. If you wouldn't command your partner to sit at the dinner table or force them to share their belongings, why do it to your kids?

Learning #7: Freedom can be introduced gradually.

The core idea of this parenting philosophy isn't "no rules" - it's about raising independent thinkers who can navigate life's complexities with confidence. Start small, experiment, and stay curious about the results.

Most controversial but thought-provoking conversation I've heard on parenting.

While I may not go all-in on this approach, it's making me rethink my approach to raising children.

Want to dig deeper?
- Follow @naval for daily wisdom
- Listen to the full @tferriss episode
- Check out "The Sovereign Child" by @astupple
- Follow me (@thedarrendunn) and subscribe to my newsletter (link in bio) thedarrenjames [type:: tweet]
The real reason most startups fail isn't running out of money. It's running out of clarity. When you lose sight of why customers actually need you, no amount of funding can save you. Most founders raise money to scale their business before they've scaled their understanding. hnshah [type:: tweet]
good software engineers please help me: if you had to build a web app with javascript what stack would you choose and why? KevinNaughtonJr [type:: tweet]
If you’re doing the same thing as a competitor, that’s not a strategy, that’s being perennially several steps behind. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I give this to all my patients.

Feel free to share it. https://t.co/LnrFzlhN6E DrJesseMorse [type:: tweet]
As a founder, the biggest risk isn't running out of money. It's running out of conviction. Money can be raised, but conviction (that deep belief in why you're building what you're building) that's harder to replenish. Protect your conviction more than your cash. hnshah [type:: tweet]
The technique is to ardently follow a single rule: Write down every decision on paper, don't act without first writing down a decision.

I've followed this rule all day, every day, for the past four weeks.

The rule has two primary effects: oreghall [type:: tweet]
Big news: we've figured out how to train models 80-90% cheaper than before. Cheaper than renting your own GPUs. Cheaper than any other service. And 0 quality regression.

Super proud of the team on this one. New pricing is now live! https://t.co/0hcvTO0Bvx corbtt [type:: tweet]
Everything they teach at YC in one page: https://t.co/OtrHavtPWK benln [type:: tweet]
Don't work too hard building a startup.

Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg all had hobbies and weren't tethered to their computers.

Levels doesn’t spend 11 hours/day coding and tweeting.

Just relax and let the succeed come to you. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The first videogame you ever play can alter your path in life.

Really interesting read. https://t.co/Dpdrg9Fk6l CogniCarbon [type:: tweet]
👀 Summarization prompt https://t.co/GcBbLVFxZn rohanpaul_ai [type:: tweet]
Every product decision is a signal in the noise.

The features you build or problems you solve send signals about what your company values.

Make sure your signals resonate with your long-term goals, not just the immediate noise of user requests or market trends. hnshah [type:: tweet]
I have a design in Figma and I want to make it into a website in 1 click.

Best AI tool to achieve this? awilkinson [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs emails Apple execs

December 5, 2006 https://t.co/FQ6eiZFHTV TechEmails [type:: tweet]
Finally, we will conduct a proper evaluation.

For this, we'll use @Cometml's Opik, a 100% open-source platform for evaluation and observability.

I have shared a notebook where you'll find all the code for this evaluation. https://t.co/UE3ryfHF3h akshay_pachaar [type:: tweet]
Highest insight-per-word ratio of any book I’ve read https://t.co/B6AiaVrKuy nathanbaugh27 [type:: tweet]
DeepSeek has been a very important breakthrough for understanding the future of economics in software in a world of AI.

There’s been an open question for a couple of years now - especially from public market investors - around whether
more value goes into the AI models or into the application layer of AI over time. The specifics of the pie graph don’t matter as much as the core direction of the space.

Imagine two different scenarios: one in which AI was extremely proprietary and very expensive, and another where AI is almost completely free and relatively open. You could easily game out two different outcomes in these worlds.

In the world of very expensive and proprietary AI, the providers of AI could and likely should choose to keep all the economics for themselves - basically crowding out opportunity for developers and the ecosystem. In a world of insanely cheap AI, then the value is less about the models, but what you do with the AI models to make them useful - in that world, more value is available to the application layer (which could include the AI companies, to be clear).

With the latest breakthroughs from DeepSeek, we can nearly definitively say this question has been answered, and we’re clearly moving closer to the latter. We’ve already seen incremental steps toward this direction with the continuous cost and quality improvements from labs in the past couple of years, but DeepSeek shifts our understanding of this even further.

In a world where the cost of intelligence will continue to drop rapidly, more value will accrues back into the app layer. Products that combine AI, customer workflows, and likely some degree of unique data, will generate substantial value from these models going forward.

Now, everyone wants to live in a binary world of winners and losers, but I don’t think it’s that simple here. The leading AI labs will incorporate the relevant lessons from DeepSeek into their models, and we’ll get cheaper and more intelligent AI. As a result of that, the cost of intelligence will continue to drop, and we will find even more ways to use the technology as it becomes affordable for even more use cases.

If we can make AI 10X more efficient today, it’s exceedingly obvious we will have 100X more use for it in 5 years from now, more than making up for the efficiency gains. Making demand for GPUs and data centers bigger than ever.

In all, fantastic to see that we continue to have companies and teams pushing the limits of AI. This is a great win for software developers at the app layer, and it will push labs to go even further. Incredible times. levie [type:: tweet]
Best Books You Must Read To Understand Artificial Intelligence in 2025
1. A Brief History Of Intelligence https://t.co/drtLFeN0Gr Powerofbooks3 [type:: tweet]
More unnecessary work can be done today than ever before. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Over the past 24 years, each business I’ve started has been stronger than the previous.

Not just in ARR, although that too.

Indeed, it’s the other things — people, team, market, strategy, focus — that surely led to the ARR.

(Your first venture doesn’t have to be a unicorn.) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
A good prompt for thinking of startup ideas: "What ideas has the world given up on, that someone should try again?" snowmaker [type:: tweet]
Great products do more than solve problems. They amplify what users care about most. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Vertical AI Agents Could Be 10X Bigger Than SaaS (Y Combinator) https://t.co/q9uKHimY4D boringmarketer [type:: tweet]
We got these phone booths (a K6 from the 1930s, and a KX100 from the 1990s) for the @stripe lobby, as a reminder that there are always two paths in everything we make: something that elevates and makes you smile, or, well, whatever the thing on the right is. https://t.co/OREBUJElp6 patrickc [type:: tweet]
It’s probably time to open a fresh browser and sign up as a new user of your product.

You’ll find 8 things to change. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
deepseek r1 asked for 1 truly novel insight about humans https://t.co/qTJbPrd5k5 adonis_singh [type:: tweet]
In the long-run, prioritization beats efficiency. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/PL7p6Y1rG5 LeilaHormozi [type:: tweet]
The fastest way to get better at anything:

Do it messy. Then do it again. Prathkum [type:: tweet]
I asked 300,000+ people to share the shortest, most insightful book ever written.

These were the 12 most popular answers:

(non-fiction edition) https://t.co/sUfVF0SGyp AlexAndBooks_ [type:: tweet]
The worst thing that can happen to your startup isn't failure. It's succeeding at building something small after taking venture funding.

You should be more afraid of local maxima. https://t.co/Gr62FOL1wH rsanghvi [type:: tweet]
I’m increasingly convinced that one can go 10x faster in life and projects without a corresponding increase in stress if one decides quickly and reflects regularly. paraschopra [type:: tweet]
Reducing the federal deficit from $2T to $1T in FY2026 requires cutting an average of ~$4B/day in projected 2026 spending from now to Sept 30.

That would still result in a ~$1T deficit, but economic growth should be able to match that number, which would mean no inflation in 2026.

Super big deal. elonmusk [type:: tweet]
why not 100x? sama [type:: tweet]
storytelling is the ultimate compression algorithm for human attention. everything else, data, logic, tech feeds into it, but if you can’t wrap it in a compelling narrative, nobody will give a shit. people think they make decisions based on facts, but they’re mostly responding to the shape of a story, whether it’s a personal arc, a company vision, or a product pitch.

if you want to accomplish anything meaningful, the story is the interface between it & the world. get that wrong & nobody will give af. get it right & you bend steel with your bare hands. signulll [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/OfEIe5F7TC dejavucoder [type:: tweet]
Everyone needs to hear this... https://t.co/r1tCpHXhlR SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Software is the new UGC, and we'll all be creators of it.

Everyone's favorite essayist, @anuatluru, explains how we're about see the next era of content creation.

Just like smartphones democratized photos, video, etc — AI is about to do the same for software. https://t.co/2xRT6MiPv4 mignano [type:: tweet]
A good sales pitch is nothing less than a 10X multiplier must-have product. That is the bar.

“Nice to have” is a box of stake knives.

3rd place is you’re fired. garrytan [type:: tweet]
@garrytan https://t.co/oOWRI1mpYl theswapnilsri [type:: tweet]
@garrytan Success in sales requires offering transformative solutions, not just incremental improvements. rohitmal [type:: tweet]
Cursor Pro Tip: Always end your prompts with something like:

“If you need clarification or have any questions, feel free to ask.”

It makes a HUGE difference in how well Cursor executes your instructions. PrajwalTomar_ [type:: tweet]
The job of parents is to make themselves redundant.

Nothing more, nothing less. Fateh_Shernu [type:: tweet]
Life rarely changes in a positive way without an increase in responsibility.

That can mean taking ownership of your health or committing to a relationship or starting a business.

Whatever it is, if you want the trajectory to change, the amount of responsibility usually has to change. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Deliver what customers want to buy, or it’s over.
At the price the can afford, or it’s over.
That you can deliver really well, or it’s over.
That you want to do for years, or it’s over.
Find those customers for a lot less than the price, or it’s over.

I could go on.

Gee I wonder why startups usually don’t work out. It’s such a mystery. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Looking for better ways to code with Cursor and came across this banger.

Anyone else have workflows that work for them? https://t.co/ZdDaabCCdD AlexReibman [type:: tweet]
human ai interaction vs human human interaction https://t.co/CzYPEwuUQQ shivkanthb [type:: tweet]
My daily reminder https://t.co/BiHlmbNvqe fffabs [type:: tweet]
Founders: The champion enablement kit:
1. 1-page executive summary
2. ROI calculator
3. Implementation timeline
4. Security/tech specs
5. Customer references
Give them everything needed to sell internally.

Make it easy to buy. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
The future belongs to idea guys who can just do things shl [type:: tweet]
make software silly again https://t.co/2uWDR8Iw3W KadriJibraan [type:: tweet]
Apple gets it. Robots are going to be everywhere, but they won’t look like robots. Check out their new paper ELEGNT.

I believe this is the future of everyday objects: helpful and human. https://t.co/pmkNxiAkB5 uavster [type:: tweet]
No longer hiring junior or even mid-level software engineers.

Our tokens per codebase:

Gumroad: 2M
Flexile: 800K
Helper: 500K
Iffy: 200K
Shortest: 100K

Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and o3-mini have context windows of 200K tokens, meaning they can now write 100% of our Iffy and Shortest code if prompted well.

It won’t be long until AI will be writing all the code for Helper, Flexile, and Gumroad. My guess is by the end of 2026.

Our new process:
1. Sit and chat about what we need to build, doing research with Deep Research as we go.
2. Have AI record everything and turn it into a spec.
3. Clean up the spec, adding any design requirements / other nuances.
4. Have Devin code it up.
5. QA, merge, (auto-)deploy to prod. shl [type:: tweet]
A reliable way to boost cognitive functioning: Go to the gym.

383 studies: Exercise improves attention, memory, and information processing. It’s true across age groups and different types of workouts.

Physical activity is good for the mind. Moving sharpens thinking. https://t.co/pPbdEXdMcs AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
1. WHAT? https://t.co/d2Vrde4OZS IterIntellectus [type:: tweet]
Write down your assumptions & predictions.

Then when you find contrary evidence for an assumption, or a prediction is wrong, you actually notice.

And then you can pivot closer to what is correct.

And then you’ll be more correct than the 99% of people who don’t do this. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
How did @lovable_dev build this fully responsive landing page in just 7 prompts? 🤯

All that’s left:
- Polishing the UI/UX
- Adding a simple backend
- Framer Motion animations
- Implementing client feedback (they loved it)
A few refinements, and it’s ready to launch. https://t.co/J3fPER4QAv PrajwalTomar_ [type:: tweet]
Smart Bear would have failed had I not listened to what customers were really saying.

And almost always they were saying it via tech support, not via interviews, not via reviews, not via feature-submission forms.

Support == product development

https://t.co/vambLKsBB6 asmartbear [type:: tweet]
an "ugly" CSS only version with :has() + anchor positioning

┬┴┬┴┤•ᴥ•ʔ├┬┴┬┴

https://t.co/087Hgh6FnY jh3yy [type:: tweet]
Founders: Discovery call red flags checklist:

🚩 No clear pain metrics
🚩 Can't name decision maker
🚩 No similar tool spend
🚩 No timeline pressure
🚩 Won't share budget range

Any 2 flags = unqualified.

Save your time. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Most people who are casually interested in your product, aren’t ready to buy RIGHT NOW.

Make sure there’s a pathway for them to be in the loop.

Trials and Freemium are one way; the most powerful, and the most effort.

Collecting an email address, everyone can do. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Founders: Pilot-to-paid conversion framework:
1. Weekly success metric reviews
2. Bi-weekly stakeholder updates
3. End-user feedback collection
4. ROI calculation at day 20
5. Transition meeting day 25
Structure = Wins Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Overheard “I have made more money being brave than being brilliant” eladgil [type:: tweet]
"A wise man once told me that, in order to win an argument, it wasn’t enough just to have the correct position, you must also give your opponent a face-saving way of accepting that position...It is important to give one’s opponent the option of honorable defeat." https://t.co/AE2JYlZh4K robkhenderson [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/wudpLsmjTO garrytan [type:: tweet]
If you can’t undo the decision, then it’s worth deliberating longer, digging up more data, and running scenarios.

But the best thing you can do is find a way to make it reversible, or work incrementally up to the irreversible point.

More:

https://t.co/Nswmwo2roB asmartbear [type:: tweet]
“Avoid negative people. They have a problem with every solution.”

— Albert Einstein readswithravi [type:: tweet]
If you want to learn Economics, don't enroll in any course.
Just read this book.

I'm not kidding.
It will seriously teach you more than anything else can.

Thread: https://t.co/DcxHHDEE8R Giuliano_Mana [type:: tweet]
every platform shift has a skeuomorphic phase largely because people cannot comprehend of anything they haven’t experienced already

this means entrepreneurs can only create news things similar to the old thing, but most importantly users don’t understand/ adopt things that are too dissimilar to the old thing

every great productivity tool was skeuomorphic to the old thing:

paper > word > docs > notion

even futurists/ sci fi writers can’t escape this: thatguybg [type:: tweet]
Deep Research has written 6 reports so far today. It is indeed excellent. Congrats to the folks behind it. patrickc [type:: tweet]
There is legitimately no reason to use Figma anymore. skirano [type:: tweet]
How to get AI startup ideas according to Y Combinator

They will invest $100m+ in AI startups this year

My notes below in case it's helpful to you https://t.co/7zW9l71JK1 gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz: Nobody Cares https://t.co/oBIJbDWYlk zfellows [type:: tweet]
Truth: If you are a builder of anything serious and married, you don't have much time for friends.

You have time for your work, spouse, limited family (yours & your parents), and maybe one other thing like fitness.

Have your priorities straight, to keep the things you value. drgurner [type:: tweet]
The classic software startup writes code to solve users' problems. If AI makes writing code more of a commodity, understanding users' problems will become the most important component of starting a startup. But it already is. paulg [type:: tweet]
banger @shl https://t.co/cYWxElt57O bangerarchive [type:: tweet]
Gotta give credit to where credit is due!

I’ve been building a full-fledged SaaS product akin to some very large SaaS companies in a matter of 500 hours or less because of Cursor Composer.

Agent is great for some chained tasks, and “normal” is amazing at targeted additions/edits!

So stoked to launch my product to the world. Thank you @cursor_ai for all the blood sweat and tears you guys have put into it!⚡️🔥❤️ GroundedCoffey [type:: tweet]
Surprisingly, ignoring worries can improve mental health.

Evidence: After practice blocking out fears, people were less anxious—and less depressed 3 months later—especially if they had high anxiety or PTSD.

Not all concerns demand attention. Some thoughts are worth dismissing. AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
Founders: When deals go dark, send a direct 'break up' email:

'We've missed a few meetings. While I believe we can deliver [specific value], I don't want to be a pest. Are we still a priority?'

Often prompts real answers or resurrects deals. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Founders: Track closed-lost reasons religiously. They're your product roadmap.

If you're losing deals to the same competitor feature or pricing tier repeatedly, that's not a sales problem.

Feed this data to product teams early and often. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
If only someone told me this before my 1st startup:
1. Validate.
  I wasted at least 5 years building stuff nobody needed.
2. Kill your EGO.
  Make your users happy instead of yourself.
3. Don’t chaise investors; chase users, and then investors will chase you.
4... johnrushx [type:: tweet]
The currency of life isn’t money. It is not even time. It’s attention. naval [type:: tweet]
Everyone is going to hit your home page, therefore your home page has to speak to everyone, right?

Nope, your home page should speak to a tiny segment of the market.

You’ll win 100x more customers anyway. Here’s why:

https://t.co/ZA4WruqhYd asmartbear [type:: tweet]
A product that looks great but doesn’t work, gets cancelled.

But there are 1000s of products with bad UI that make lots of money.

So, hot take:

Design is important, but functionality is more important. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Opportunities unfold as you execute. Not as you whiteboard. hnshah [type:: tweet]
I still cannot believe that I can:
- look at a world map and tap anywhere to zoom in at street level
- instantly access any song, book, movie, tv show, or podcast ever made
- have any conceivable question and get an immediate answer or video explanation
- take a photo or video wherever I am and add it to my massive, searchable, always accessible personal archive
- video call anyone in my life, at anytime, no matter where they are
- watch live sports on a little wireless glass rectangle
- type out these thoughts and have them read by thousands of people, all over the world, a few seconds later waitbutwhy [type:: tweet]
Founders: Document every verbal agreement immediately via email:

'Great call! Confirming what we discussed:
- seats at [Y] price
- Implementation by [date]
- Payment terms [Z]'
Prevent 'selective memory' issues later. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
This never works:
→ Startup Idea → Plan → Design → Coding → Marketing→ Audience → 😣

This works (sometimes): johnrushx [type:: tweet]
I don't say this to throw shade on anyone - but if you're not building with agents, I simply don't get it. I've 10x'd my productivity.

Here's a quick video showing how I can now simply say "create a table called foo with these fields", and my coding agent (@cline, you sexy beast) will:
1. fetch the relevant supabase resources from my @trynigel MCP server
2. create a new migration file in the correct format
3. add the migration with consistent sql formatting, rls best practices
4. run supabase migrations up && pnpm supabase:generate-types at the end to apply the changes
Setting this entire flow up took me < 5 mins. I used an MCP tool I wrote called harvest_docs to extract out the ai-prompts that @supabase provided (dope, btw 🫶) to extract the supabase docs to my MCP server. I asked cline to review my existing sql migrations / seed.sql and clean it up. Then I tested it out by asking cline to create a new migration. scottsilvi [type:: tweet]
A leader without urgency is a liability. hnshah [type:: tweet]
I acquired Unicorn Platform for $0.8M in '22.

I've literally tried every growth method I've heard of.
It all failed in 2023, but in 2024, I found what works & went 25k to 370k users.

Details report on each marketing experiment (failures & successes):

https://t.co/OPoopnewYi johnrushx [type:: tweet]
Excellent and true for much more than being a founder. mmay3r [type:: tweet]
I designed & built a personal office / art studio in the forest behind my home.

We call it "the nook,” and it took 4 months start to finish.

Want to see inside? 🧵 https://t.co/t961FBtMPc isaacfrench_ [type:: tweet]
Microsoft just dropped OmniParser V2, this changes everything.

This AI sees your screen, understands it, and takes action, just like a human.

100% free & open source!
https://t.co/lOwdvICClE minchoi [type:: tweet]
a non-technical founder friend asked me how to detect 10x engineers
- they understand in depth what they're doing and how things work
- they've built things from scratch at some point in their lives (compiler, programming language, AI models, C without cursor, etc.)
- they build 10x better prompts than others
- they're motivated either by curiosity, significant tech challenges, high salary, or doing something important louis030195 [type:: tweet]
"Your goal in life is to find out the people who need you the most, to find out the business that needs you the most, to find the project and the art that needs you the most. There is something out there just for you."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
You will suddenly get much luckier in life once you figure out how to be consistently high-energy and clear-minded. The quality of your lifestyle is your luck. orangebook [type:: tweet]
Really exceptional. @JeffBezos https://t.co/OCx5wMUPAa AlexHormozi [type:: tweet]
"The overeducated are worse off than the undereducated, having traded common sense for the illusion of knowledge."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Things that have happened for me since ChatGPT:
- I'm asking more questions
- I'm doing more research
- I'm coding more
The unifying theme: more, more, more.

Despite these magical tools, I've not run out of questions, or projects. In fact I think I have more than ever. yuris [type:: tweet]
Prototypes > PRDs shl [type:: tweet]
so seed oils and fish kubafilipowski [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/hEfQ31gANQ xai [type:: tweet]
You’ll make wealth when you spend time with those who hate wasting time.

You’ll find peace when you spend time with those who don’t care about time. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
This is like when I'm tossing and turning in bed, I imagine being on an airplane with my elbows on the tray and face in my hands, trying miserably to sleep, and then I imagine that I was upgraded to one of those insane first class cabins with a full bed. Puts me right to sleep. waitbutwhy [type:: tweet]
Introducing Helix, our newest AI that thinks like a human

To bring robots into homes, we need a step change in capabilities

Helix can generalize to any household item 🧵
https://t.co/sPzPV4B50J adcock_brett [type:: tweet]
“We have proprietary AI.”

No, you don’t.

The models keep improving, and your edge will disappear.

The winners in AI will have distribution, workflow, and locked-in data. Everything else is a race to the bottom. hnshah [type:: tweet]
I extracted the most common failure patterns from my 20-year-long startup journey.

(spoiler: most successful founders have done the same thing, while failed ones did many different things)

Why Startup Founders Fail: johnrushx [type:: tweet]
This prompt is a fucking godsend for @cursor_ai & @windsurf_ai

"Reflect on 5-7 different possible sources of the problem, distill those down to 1-2 most likely sources, and then add logs to validate your assumptions before we move onto implementing the actual code fix" iankar_ [type:: tweet]
AI can be a search engine or a thought partner.

I spend 3+ hours daily shaping responses so I don’t waste time on shallow answers. The key? Knowing how to push it past surface-level thinking.

Here are 21 techniques to turn AI into a second brain, not a toy. hnshah [type:: tweet]
the process to build an AI startup:

find painful workflow → build tiny audience in niche → release daily tweets + videos → spot patterns in engagement → discover massive problem → validate with mini-experiments →

hack v1 fast with gpt/claude/grok + replit/bolt/v0/etc → share entire build process with behind the scenes vids → get feedback from day 1 → fix problems instantly → package progress into content → turn learnings into tweets/videos → hit viral loops →

grow distribution daily → post core insights → build useful tools → drop alpha in replies → track viral tweets → reuse winning formats → build reputation → expand reach slowly →

nail retention → perfect core loop → focus on power users → test pricing (outcome pricing vs monthly) → expand features → automate ops → stay lean, only raise VC if you dont care about dividends → now you scale

partner with creators → identify micro influencers in niche → offer early access → co-create content → share revenue → help them build tools → turn users into creators → scale through their audiences →

stack wins + audience → repeat gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.

Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation. elonmusk [type:: tweet]
Most people have NO IDEA just how VALUABLE Grok 3 DeepSearch is for studying your competitors 🦾💥

Before Grok 3 😔

Spend big $$$ on social listening tools
Schedule endless customer calls
Try to guess what people actually want

After Grok 3 🚀

Tell grok your idea + competitors
Analyze realtime discussions on X
Build exactly what people are asking for

If you’re using Grok 3 in business you have a WILDLY unfair advantage

Steal my prompts and thank me + @jelanifuel later ⬇️ tedx_ai [type:: tweet]
this is what's keeping me up at night these days...
1. google has become unusable. once you get used to "deep research" (thanks grok, perplexity etc), google feels like bringing a typewriter to a macbook meeting.
2. MCP will do for ai agents what REST did for web services - this standard protocol means an ai agent built for healthcare can instantly talk to billing systems, patient records, and insurance databases without custom code, unlocking thousands of new startup opportunities. it's really exciting!
3. we're seeing the entire cost structure of building businesses collapse - you can now build profitable companies serving tiny, weird niches that were impossible to reach when you needed a full team. what used to need 1000 customers to break even now needs 10.
4. it's not too late to be a creator or build a media business. creators are evolving into the new holding companies, consolidating influence, revenue streams, and audiences in ways that mirror corporate giants. somehow it's still early
5. really big arbitrage opportunity to buy businesses without taste and add taste. "taste private equity" has a nice ring to it.
6. figuring out LLM seo. billions of dollars will flow to new players who figure out how to get "cited" by LLMs. finally.
7. most ai apps are designed for websites not mobile. ai-first consumer mobile is really interesting. we saw with cal ai and the looksmaxing apps, that this is just the beginning.
8. every product launch needs video now - i'm watching great features die on landing pages while quick screen recordings go viral and drive thousands of signups. the social feeds have spoken.
9. what used to require millions in vc funding now needs an api key, some prompts and a tweet. this fires me up!!
10. faster than ever to launch something of quality. faster than ever to pivot. knowing when to pivot is an art.
11. i dont understand anyone who sitting in business school right now. literally everything is being rewritten.
12. who is building the app store for ai agents? companies will browse and hire pre-trained, specialized agents like we download apps
13. the way to stop a big player to compete with you in this new world is to own distribution.
14. you can spend a lot of time thinking about politics or checking emails or on social in the name of research, but not really moving forward anywhere.
15. we're about to see software companies capture value that used to belong to agencies, consulting firms, and entire departments.
16. we're about to go from "there's an app for that" to "there's your app for that.
17. minimum viable audience is more important than minimum viable product
18. I don't know how long this window stays open, but we're in a moment where all the rules of building businesses are being rewritten. and for the people who are playing with this new tools, putting stuff out there, creating audiences/communities, you've got an unfair advantage.
i hope you get some sleep. gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
An emerging hallmark of effective modern parenting will be instilling in your children a prophylactic revulsion to short form video and screens.

Brain slop inoculation. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
One of the highest leverage things founders can do right now is to invest in becoming top 5% in their use of AI coding tools. snowmaker [type:: tweet]
Agency > Intelligence

I had this intuitively wrong for decades, I think due to a pervasive cultural veneration of intelligence, various entertainment/media, obsession with IQ etc. Agency is significantly more powerful and significantly more scarce. Are you hiring for agency? Are we educating for agency? Are you acting as if you had 10X agency?

Grok explanation is ~close:

“Agency, as a personality trait, refers to an individual's capacity to take initiative, make decisions, and exert control over their actions and environment. It’s about being proactive rather than reactive—someone with high agency doesn’t just let life happen to them; they shape it. Think of it as a blend of self-efficacy, determination, and a sense of ownership over one’s path.

People with strong agency tend to set goals and pursue them with confidence, even in the face of obstacles. They’re the type to say, “I’ll figure it out,” and then actually do it. On the flip side, someone low in agency might feel more like a passenger in their own life, waiting for external forces—like luck, other people, or circumstances—to dictate what happens next.

It’s not quite the same as assertiveness or ambition, though it can overlap. Agency is quieter, more internal—it’s the belief that you can act, paired with the will to follow through. Psychologists often tie it to concepts like locus of control: high-agency folks lean toward an internal locus, feeling they steer their fate, while low-agency folks might lean external, seeing life as something that happens to them.” karpathy [type:: tweet]
I sometimes come across my own writing from 10+ years ago and think "I would never write that now."

But you have to honor your former self. That was a truth, once.

So, I leave it. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
What separates Good UI from Great UI? https://t.co/kNERSIZtyP zander_supafast [type:: tweet]
i asked gpt4.5 what’s a deep truth that most people are not aware of
and then i kept asking
1. discomfort isn't just inevitable; it's essential. chase friction relentlessly. https://t.co/4TW7jL4gW2 IterIntellectus [type:: tweet]
The world is built by those who build.

Not by thinkers. Not by planners. Not by critics on the sidelines. By people who pick up the tools in front of them and start.

Michelangelo didn’t debate the best way to sculpt David. He carved. The Wright brothers didn’t seek approval before attempting flight. They assembled wood and fabric and took off. James Watt didn’t theorize about steam power. He built an engine that rewrote the rules of industry.

History doesn’t remember the committee that discussed change. It remembers the builders who made it happen.

Builders don’t wait. They don’t stall for perfect conditions or guaranteed outcomes. They move forward, knowing that motion beats deliberation every time.

Ideas are cheap. Execution is hard. But building... building is everything.

Most people hesitate. They want certainty before they start. Builders know certainty is a mirage. The only way to find out what works is to make something real. The only way to create momentum is to take the first step.

They work with what they have. The printing press wasn’t born out of endless research. Gutenberg repurposed a wine press and changed the course of knowledge. The first Apple computer wasn’t the result of a corporate strategy session. Jobs and Wozniak built it in a garage with borrowed parts.

The path isn’t clear at the start. The plan will change. Setbacks will come. Builders don’t care. They adapt. They adjust. They push forward when others would stop.

Most people spend their lives waiting. Builders spend their lives making.

The future belongs to those who build. hnshah [type:: tweet]
AI will wildly accelerate those who have good judgement and are highly impatient. Specially if they can have access to capital. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
SaaS is being dismantled as we speak!

We're witnessing the slow-motion collapse of an entire business model that dominated tech for two decades. The $1.3 trillion SaaS is being quietly hollowed out from within by AI agents.

Here's how I see it playing out:

Phase 1 (Now): AI as co-pilot. We're seeing this everywhere, Copilot for developers, Gamma for presentations, Harvey for legal research etc. These AI layers sit atop existing software, making it more efficient.

The SaaS companies feel safe, even excited, as AI seems to make their products more valuable. They're bringing knives to what they think is a knife fight.

Phase 2 (Next 12-18 months): The agent invasion. AI moves from co-pilot to autonomous operator. They're replacement workers that can fully operate existing software on your behalf.

The dam breaks when someone can say "analyze our Q2 performance" rather than clicking through Tableau, or "optimize our ad campaigns" instead of navigating Meta's ad manager. The expertise previously bundled with the software gets unbundled by agents.

Phase 3 (2-3 years): Software invisibility. The final phase happens when the agents bypass the human interfaces altogether. Why render dashboards, buttons and menus when AI can just access the APIs directly?

The value proposition of SaaS, bundling software, workflow, and expertise into user-friendly interfaces unravels completely. The interfaces were designed for humans, but agents don't need them.

Most SaaS incumbents don't see it coming because this isn't a classic disruption pattern. It's not about competing products with better features. It's about the evaporation of the core assumption that humans will operate software.

What's more, the barrier to creating custom, internal software is collapsing simultaneously. Companies that once had to choose between expensive custom development or off-the-shelf SaaS can now spin up bespoke solutions in days instead of months. Why pay Hubspot $1,500/month for a CRM when your team can build 'HubspotForUs' with an AI coding assistant over a weekend? The same features, perfectly tailored to your workflow, with no ongoing subscription costs.

This democratization of software creation means every company becomes a potential software producer rather than just a consumer. The specialized knowledge that SaaS companies monopolized is now available to anyone with access to an AI coding agent and domain expertise.

It went from $1M to build an MVP to build a SaaS to basically free overnight.

I bet the metrics will be puzzling at first, DAUs remain strong while feature usage mysteriously declines. The power users who drive revenue suddenly need fewer seats.

Customer success calls shift from "how do I use this feature?" to "can your software work with my AI agent?"

Or worse: "we built our own version that better fits our workflow."

The survivors won't be those with the best features or even those who add AI features fastest (from no AI to "ai-assisted").

The winners will be companies that expose their software's capabilities through agent-friendly APIs and position themselves as the most trustworthy information sources and execution engines in their domain.

There's also the shift from monthly subscriptions to outcome based software (pay per outcome, pay per task etc) but that's a tweet for another day!

The $1T question: Will Microsoft, Atlassian, Adobe etc. successfully navigate this transition, or will they be the Digital Equipment Corporation of our era too invested in the previous paradigm to adapt to the new one?

All I know is this will be a golden era for startups in the space.

SaaS is being dismantled, piece by piece, workflow by workflow, interface by interface.

Am I wrong? gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
It might be an odd thing to compare it to, but there's another angle to look at this too:

Software is now content.

I actually saw the same thing with video when the Canon 5D Mark II came out.

When that camera dropped, so many more people had access to making high-quality videos, and it really changed what was possible, it was a lot cheaper to make a beautiful video.

This also meant that the kinds of videos and the total genres of videos rapidly expanded. You had this new format, the vlog, which got progressively higher in production value as the cameras got better and also cheaper in price. Casey Neistat really pushed the culture with his daily vlog, and the level of narrative and production quality he could bring to it each day. You had these new high quality user product reviews, you had streamers, an expansion of documentary short film, it changed culture, it changed the aesthetics of many things, including comedy, it changed how we parse the signal from noise in information.

And I think in the same way, this is going to happen with software - as the cost of making software goes down, we're going to see individuals experimenting with very very new kinds of apps. We're going to see new genres of software that would have never made sense in the past, we're going to see new aesthetics. We're going to see new kinds of games because the cost of trying this stuff now is so much lower for the individual. We will see individuals take on far more complex projects and games than ever before. A single creator might create an ecosystem of interrelated apps.

So we might see software move in a direction where it's like a creator on YouTube making a video every day, but now we might have creators making and releasing new software projects every day.

Still running my own experiments, and flushing this out, but something about this zone of ideas is interesting. internetvin [type:: tweet]
Reducing hair loss with an antioxidant shampoo.

A blend of:

◇ Zinc pyrithione
◇ Zinc carbonate
◇ Caffeine
◇ Niacinamide (vitamin B3)
◇ Panthenol (vitamin B5)
◇ Piroctone olamine

increases total hair counts while reducing hair shedding.

Oxidative stress is the prime mediator of hair loss. Outdoctrination [type:: tweet]
fwiw, this is why perplexity ships fast. people just do things. https://t.co/OEHnuUjgiH AravSrinivas [type:: tweet]
Founders: It’s not a real opportunity unless you gave them the opportunity to reject you, and they didn’t. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Never take this for granted son. https://t.co/3pSxuuSWeD DearS_o_n [type:: tweet]
You’re losing your hair…

So you take finasteride to save it.

What they don’t tell you:

You’re chemically castrating yourself to keep your hairline.

Here’s how to actually fix hair loss (without destroying your hormones): https://t.co/MEcoP4rPzS yoursimmo [type:: tweet]
“You are only entitled to the action, never to its fruits.” — Bhagavad Gita RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
#principleoftheday https://t.co/UOFKwBmf5B RayDalio [type:: tweet]
The moment you know you’re onto something: You demo your product, and instead of asking how it works, people start telling you how they’d use it. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Founders: Your pitch needs 3 levels of backup:
1. Hard metrics: '40% cost reduction'
2. Social proof: '8 of top 10 banks use us'
3. ROI validation: 'Payback in 4.2 months'
Each reinforces the others. Have all three ready. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
We’re about to see AI Agents explode in SaaS. The entire architecture of most modern cloud services is to power multi-user, collaborative workflows, and AI Agents swap in as one of those collaborators naturally. These systems are extremely well suited for automation. levie [type:: tweet]
Every great company is just a collection of people who are exceptionally good at seeing what matters most. hnshah [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/02Rdq7eRuG QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/ODpEn5RQ9z kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Albert Einstein once said...

"Weak people take revenge, strong people forgive, intelligent people ignore"

Here are 9 things I learned from him: https://t.co/QB2M16HeVs thewisementor [type:: tweet]
"Pick one desire, and one desire only.
The universe will help you get it.
Let go of everything else."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Insecure people love holding grudge over trivial matters to feel powerful. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Naval Ravikant (@naval) on how to build the team that ships: https://t.co/m9WKYBlBvl zfellows [type:: tweet]
Timely reminder from @visualizevalue
The new chrome extension is dope https://t.co/XdQllzG90s https://t.co/xGlzYfAP9F aymericrabot [type:: tweet]
"If you're going to pick 3 cards in the hand you're dealt, take intelligence, drive, and most importantly, emotional self-discipline."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Really good https://t.co/Bkr0K2A79A AlexHormozi [type:: tweet]
Founders: Forget 'spray and pray' prospecting.

Pick ONE vertical
Pick ONE geography
Pick ONE company size
Pick ONE pain point

Master that combination. Then expand. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
How AI is raising the baseline for product excellence https://t.co/SEBnQ3GZVr gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
“Hire great people and get out of their way, with minimal meetings, no code review, no corporate 1:1s!”

It’s the opposite of mentorship, or even being a caring peer.

It’s fine if that’s your style, just understand the consequences. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Only people who have taken products from zero to one are qualified to run a tech company. naval [type:: tweet]
Founders: Here's how to structure pilots that actually close:
- Max 30 days
- 3 mandatory training sessions
- Weekly usage metrics reviews
- 2 required use cases completed
- Success criteria defined up front
Charge 25% of annual fee for the pilot.

No more endless trials. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Founders: Stop generic discovery. Use these exact questions:

What's the cost of not solving this now?"

Who else is involved in these decisions?

What's blocked past attempts to fix this?

How would success be measured?

4 questions = complete qualification. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
He deleted almost every app from his phone.

Then he wrote 4 bestsellers in 9 years.

Cal Newport's controversial take: Your phone is making you mediocre.

His science-backed system for getting your brain back: https://t.co/JA6s73Htgf clinjar [type:: tweet]
The biggest bottleneck isn’t execution speed. It’s the lag between action and feedback. If you optimize for speed to feedback, everything else gets easier. hnshah [type:: tweet]
"You’re spending time to save money when you should be spending money to save time."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
People don’t lose because they’re dumb. They lose because they stop moving. Clarity comes from momentum, not thinking. Ship something. Stack wins. Stop asking what’s best. Start asking what keeps us moving. Speed that compounds always wins. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Even if you get interruptions "all day," maybe you can batch them.

Can you get two hours of solid work done, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 open Slack and email and text messaging? Then another block of work? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Switzerland doesn't look real – a thread 🧵
1. Many scholars believe that Tolkien's 1911 hike through Lauterbrunnen directly inspired the valley of Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings. https://t.co/FG34VbU2qm JamesLucasIT [type:: tweet]
Ex-Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman telling the hard truths. https://t.co/VFOxbGL7Y5 chrishlad [type:: tweet]
Humans naturally prefer comfort, convenience, and ease. It tugs on us like gravity, exerting a constant gravitational pull.

Only through continuous action of leaders can a group rise above the gravitational pull of comfort, convenience, and ease.

But like gravity, the pull never goes away, so leaders must always, always, always lead higher standards. And that is what bites people and leaders in the ass. TBrianKight [type:: tweet]
Founders: The champion enablement kit:
1. 1-page executive summary
2. ROI calculator
3. Implementation timeline
4. Security/tech specs
5. Customer references
Give them everything needed to sell internally.

Make it easy to buy. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Time spent thinking about the future is time spent away from your self. naval [type:: tweet]
"Happiness to me is mainly not suffering, not desiring, not thinking too much about the future or the past, really embracing the present moment and the reality of what is, and the way it is."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Picking your market is far more important than picking any one feature, and might be more important than every feature you will ever build. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Financial advice is easy to give when you're not the one taking the risk.

Opinions are cheap. Skin in the game isn't. dollarsanddata [type:: tweet]
I feel like in the transition from life as survival (most animals) to life as artistic enjoyment of the universe this was one of the important steps, though it’ll presumably be exponential and come faster than we expect nickcammarata [type:: tweet]
Founders: When deals go dark, send a direct 'break up' email:

'We've missed a few meetings. While I believe we can deliver [specific value], I don't want to be a pest. Are we still a priority?'

Often prompts real answers or resurrects deals. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
4o – test https://t.co/VHgSPUAaH4 nurpraditya [type:: tweet]
.@naval: Look at reality the way it is. Try to take yourself out of the equation.

“Labels like pessimist, optimist, cynic, introvert, extrovert—these are very self limiting. Humans are very dynamic.

There are times when you feel like being introverted. There are times when you feel like being extroverted. There are contexts in which you’ll be pessimistic. There are contexts in which you’ll be optimistic.

Leave all those labels alone. It’s better just to look at the problem at hand. Look at reality the way it is. Try to take yourself out of the equation, in a sense.

Obviously you’re involved. But motivated reasoning is the worst kind of reasoning. You’re not going to find truth through highly motivated reasoning.

You have to be objective. And objective means trying to take yourself out of it as much as possible, or at least your personality out of it as much as possible.

And so to the extent you run with this thick identity and personality, it’s going to cloud your judgment. It’s going to try and lock you into the past.

If you say, ‘I’m a depressed, unhappy person—I’m going to be unhappy.’ That’s a way of locking yourself into your past. Even saying, ‘I have trauma, I have PTSD,’ yeah, you feel something—there are memories, there are flashes, there are occasional bad feelings.

But don’t define yourself by it because then you’ll lock it into your identity and you’re just going to loop on it.

It’s better to stay flexible because reality is always changing and you have to be able to adapt to it. Adaptation is also intelligence, adaptation is survival. Adaptation is kind of how you’re here. You’re here because you’re an adapter and your ancestors were adapters.

So to adapt you’ll have to see things clearly and if you’re seeing them through your own identity, it’s going to cloud your judgment.” arjunkhemani [type:: tweet]
A second clip from my recent podcast with @ChrisWillx . Full episode releases Monday. https://t.co/SVZCAvxxRL naval [type:: tweet]
Japanese Parenting Secret for Raising a Genius Child!🇯🇵✨

Japanese parents use simple daily exercises to boost mental and physical development from an early age👦

Just 1 month of these exercises can make children more focused, thoughtful, and intelligent🧠💡 https://t.co/Wm7bTOLb2C GraceGym_ [type:: tweet]
99% of men panic when they see their hairline receding.

So they rush to finasteride, minoxidil, or expensive hair transplants in Turkey.

But scientific research reveals better, cheaper ways to regrow hair—naturally.

Here’s everything you need to know: 🧵 https://t.co/xz8fA0UfeJ kiierrhairgrow [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/Zgm5uYzCJo naval [type:: tweet]
Naval Ravikant's latest podcast with Chris Williamson is mind-blowing.

He revealed:

• Why he deleted his calendar
• Three decisions that determine 90% of your life's outcome
• Why most anxiety comes from a problem few understand

10 insights that'll transform your life: https://t.co/5jsynf3CGc TheHarmonX [type:: tweet]
Most people try to control outcomes. Smart people control inputs. That’s the difference between anxiety and growth. hnshah [type:: tweet]
1. Do not order them to buy your stuff. Show them a dream. https://t.co/GEW0YJDxKq Rana_kamran43 [type:: tweet]
1. Don’t confuse your customers with too many options. https://t.co/fdjSA2mAg5 Rana_kamran43 [type:: tweet]
1. Your product should complete your customer’s life. https://t.co/zbrJ9ZH8D7 Rana_kamran43 [type:: tweet]
The best thing you can do when building in AI is to plan your architecture and business model for everything getting 10X better and cheaper. Throw more compute at the problem now and it will get cheaper later. And build architectures that can always swap in better parts. levie [type:: tweet]
The pro-tariff crowd need to read:
- Economics in One Lesson by Hazlitt
- Basic Economics by Sowell
- The Use of Knowledge in Society by Hayek
- Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth by Mises
- Capitalism and Freedom by Friedman
- The Wealth Of Nations by Smith AndreasKoureas_ [type:: tweet]
Failure is an education, true.

But remember, a startup's success isn't just about the lessons from failure, but also about the few key things done right.

You do learn from what goes well too. Or at least, you should.

Failure does not show you what way would have been right! asmartbear [type:: tweet]
All freelancers and agencies understand the yin/yang of having to do sales as well as work.

No sales → no work.

And yet, people will work on a software product for years without thinking they need to spend half their time on sales.
asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I used to be addicted to ideas.
Now, I’m addicted to execution.

13 brutal lessons that turned me from a passive thinker into a building machine: theCharafeddine [type:: tweet]
If your idea is really good,

others will copy it.

Some have already started doing it, before you.

Some will become tough competitors.

Most will be gone or irrelevant in two years.

So ignore all that and focus on being one of the tough ones. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/KNCSUmuA40 dailystoic [type:: tweet]
You don’t grow a company. You remove everything blocking its growth. hnshah [type:: tweet]
When you get down to it, a CEO only has three responsibilities:
1. Set the direction of the company.
2. Don't run out of money.
3. Build a great team. mbrandolph [type:: tweet]
Almost every group that agrees on the big things ends up fighting about less important things and becoming enemies even though they should be bound by the big things. This phenomenon is called the narcissism of small differences. Take the Protestants and Catholics. Though both are followers of Christ, some of them have been fighting for hundreds of years, even though many of them are unable to articulate the differences that divide them, and most of those who can articulate the differences realize that they are insignificant relative to the big important things that should bind them together. I once saw a close family have an irrevocable blow-out at a Thanksgiving dinner over who would cut the turkey. Don't let this narcissism of small differences happen to you. Understand that nobody and nothing is perfect and that you are lucky to have by-andlarge excellent relationships. See the big picture. #principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
Curiosity.

It answers so much, with energy, positivity, open-mindedness, fun, yet also utility.

In yourself, in hiring, in solving the riddle of “when is ‘failure’ OK?” asmartbear [type:: tweet]
every time I hired the person I didn’t feel was creative or smart but they were the responsible safe professional choice it ended up going badly and not actually safe at all

when I’ve hired the creative smart weird person I’ve only regretted it like 30% of the time nickcammarata [type:: tweet]
Every other week, we have a customer join for the first 30 minutes of our management team meeting: they share their candid feedback, and ~40 leaders from across Stripe listen. Even though we already have a lot of customer feedback mechanisms, it somehow always spurs new thoughts and investigations. patrickc [type:: tweet]
7 Traits That Make You Irreplaceable: https://t.co/zo0FdBJ8z2 dklineii [type:: tweet]
The world's biggest health scam:

Sugar.

It's making you tired, fat, and depressed.

Here's what it actually does to you (backed by science): https://t.co/X0iP6LdBn7 NutritionTipzzz [type:: tweet]
Great startups don't get noticed by using tricks to get people's attention. They do it by making something so amazing that people tell their friends about it. paulg [type:: tweet]
Dads
1. https://t.co/Kntzuy8YhJ tradingMaxiSL [type:: tweet]
It’s important not to let our biases stand in the way of our objectivity. To get good results, we need to be analytical rather than emotional.

Whenever I observe something in nature that I (or mankind) think is wrong, I assume that I’m wrong and try to figure out why what nature is doing makes sense. That has taught me a lot. It has changed my thinking about 1) what’s good and what’s bad, 2) what my purpose in life is, and 3) what I should do when faced with my most important choices. To help explain why, I will give you a simple example. RayDalio [type:: tweet]
A retirement truth no one wants to talk about:

Once you have some base level of financial security, your day to day happiness in retirement will be impacted more by your relationships, your hobbies, and your sense of purpose than your financial assets. dollarsanddata [type:: tweet]
With ambitious projects, you start by laying the foundation: Setting up servers w/ automation, user authentication and multi-tenancy, basic UI screens, an API.

But that doesn’t de-risk the project.

Start with the hardest, scariest part. Prove that works first. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
One of the most important things I've learned from 20 years of talking to startups at Y Combinator is how few local maximums there are. Founders can just put their heads down and focus on growth, without more than a few months' lookahead, and they'll almost always do well. paulg [type:: tweet]
@Niklas_Sikorra The most important lesson about growth is that the way to get it is to make something users love so much they tell their friends, rather than by some "growth hack" like clever marketing or partnerships. paulg [type:: tweet]
Clarity comes from action. https://t.co/aBapGcOQSw readswithravi [type:: tweet]
You want everything, but you can’t have everything.

So you want to not want anything. But that’s wanting.

So you want to want what you already have. Including wanting and not wanting.

Wanting what is… naval [type:: tweet]
First Shopify.

Now Duolingo.

If you’re a “digital native business” (ie born in the cloud, born on mobile - think Pinterest, Airbnb, Stripe) and haven’t gotten the memo, here is the literal memo. https://t.co/0dFhgJJLFP alliekmiller [type:: tweet]
There is no substitute for a strong internal drive to do things, everything else is built on this foundation. daltonc [type:: tweet]
Prompts that changed my life. Part 9 https://t.co/7CZiwPeY6L PromptLLM [type:: tweet]
A question that lives in my head rent free… https://t.co/K9HQ6vuvqC Jayyanginspires [type:: tweet]
Startup mentality isn’t just going from zero to one; lots of big companies do that. It’s risking something that’s working to get to the next local maxima. nivi [type:: tweet]
#podatki #giełdowe
Prośba o tylko dobre rekomendacje.

Jak rozliczacie podatki z zagranicznych platform nie udostępniających PIT?
(np. Interactive Brokers, Degiro, Revolut, etc.)

Jakieś polecane aplikacje lub rozwiązania?
🙌 rditrych [type:: tweet]
build for the 80%, so it just works.
build for the 1%, so it can do anything.
the rest will figure it out.

the secret isn’t picking a side — it’s serving both ends of the spectrum. ryolu_ [type:: tweet]
10 Brutal Truths Every Man Needs to Understand:
1. You are not meant to always be happy. https://t.co/YJAEWX7w7c FashionFixerz [type:: tweet]
You don’t get rich renting your time. You get rich owning something that grows without you. Build or join something where your upside isn’t capped. hnshah [type:: tweet]
The best compete against nature, not against other humans. naval [type:: tweet]
I’ve watched over 5,000 movies in my life.

Some lines didn’t just entertain me,
they rewired how I see the world.

11 movie quotes that reveal brutal
truths about life: 🧵 https://t.co/9YvqPbcPlr ItsWalterEgo [type:: tweet]
You can’t please everyone!

You can’t even please one person all the time.

Have you 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 fully internalized that?

Really?

I still struggle. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
All prioritization and product management systems boil down to:

How can we say “no” to almost everything, and be confident that what we say “yes” to, will matter?

Keep that in mind when you select a system or schedule work just because someone asked you to. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Who you marry will have a bigger impact on your life than what you do for a living. LeilaHormozi [type:: tweet]
@LeilaHormozi Facts.

The wrong person drains your energy, doubts your goals, and slows your momentum.

Doesn’t matter how good the business is if your home life’s chaos. lucasgbradshaw [type:: tweet]
1. Magnesium Glycinate
80% of Americans are magnesium deficient, contributing to anxiety, muscle cramps, poor sleep, and constipation.

Take 400-800mg before bed.

I've seen this simple mineral work wonders:
https://t.co/muy2fvwHVm CraigBrockie [type:: tweet]
@LeilaHormozi Marrying someone shapes your mindset, values, and path. Your partner defines your energy, ambition, and standards. It's not just support—it's your rock. EricMelillo_ [type:: tweet]
Want your work to stand out? Just turn it in on time.

New research shows that when you miss deadlines, people don’t just see your work as late—they see it as lower quality.

Here’s why being late hurts way more than being early 👇 https://t.co/68WD2qP06N DanielPink [type:: tweet]
My richest mentor told me...

"I win more for one reason. I move fast. By the time most people are done analyzing, I've already made three mistakes and found a better way.” Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
If you’ve never run a sales organization, you won’t hire a Sales Engineer soon enough. You’ll just be frustrated that your sales people “aren’t technical enough.”

Especially if you’re spoiled with one or two sales people who are both.

This is how you scale sales. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I don’t write because I’ve figured it out.

I write in order to figure it out.

Doing is a form of thinking.

#DanielPink #Picasso #QOTD https://t.co/peyE9aoXTX DanielPink [type:: tweet]
"You get rewarded for unique knowledge, not for effort.

Effort is required to create unique knowledge."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Want to instantly feel more satisfied with your life?

It’s not about adding more. It’s about subtracting.

Here’s a simple mental trick backed by science that shifts everything 👇 DanielPink [type:: tweet]
You’re not indecisive. You’re not “too nice.”

You’re stuck in a trauma loop of people-pleasing and overthinking.

It’s not your personality.

It’s your nervous system replaying old survival scripts.

Here’s the truth—(most therapists won't tell you) 🧵 https://t.co/qhWvpGnJkD LORWEN108 [type:: tweet]
@paulg people talk about love like it’s abstract, but you can literally feel it re-enter a space.

so much of what we call “home” is just an accumulation of other people’s energy. protobard [type:: tweet]
"I simply can’t work on projects that aren’t my own."

The main motivation for a lot of startups, if we’re being honest.

Another: Proving to others that you’re much more of a badass than they thought. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
On April 28 I started a new essay. By May 2 it felt almost done. I'm still working on it. It's remarkable how much further you can take something from "almost done." People who always write with deadlines must never realize this fundamental fact about writing. paulg [type:: tweet]
Just making something simpler is often better than making it smarter. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Kasparov on greatness. https://t.co/ZcNwcdX11s Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Most Founders Don’t Want to Sell

The hard part isn’t getting users. It’s being willing to.

Founders say they want product/market fit, but most of them hope it happens by accident. They’ll tweak the product. Redo the landing page. Change the CTA. Anything but talk to people. Anything but ask for time, attention, or belief.

It’s not that they don’t know how to get users.
It’s that they don’t want to be the one selling.

Selling feels like begging. Like trying too hard. Like a step backward from the product work that made them feel smart. But if you don’t learn how to make people care, nothing you build will matter.

Some founders chase perfection because they think it will attract users. Others hide behind product because it’s easier than rejection. Either way, the result is the same: they wait.

And waiting is the fastest way to lose.

If you’re not doing the work to spread the product, you’re not building a startup. You’re building a secret. And most secrets die quietly.

The truth is: every founder is in sales.

Whether they admit it or not. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Example: A bartender checking for fake IDs.

Asking "How old are you?" is easy for a liar. They will confidently say, "21."

But asking "What year were you born?" forces them to do mental math.

A truth-teller answers instantly. A liar hesitates. DanielPink [type:: tweet]
The hard truth: most founders don’t have a distribution problem. They have a discomfort problem. They don’t want to sell. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Negotiating with your kids isn't just more effective than yelling—it's transformative. When you replace the temporary compliance of fear with genuine buy-in, you're building future decision-makers, not order-takers. Think tactical empathy: "It seems like you're frustrated about bedtime" acknowledges their reality without surrendering yours. Use calibrated questions like "How does staying up late help you?" rather than "Why won't you just go to bed?" The first invites problem-solving; the second triggers defensiveness. When children feel heard rather than overpowered, they develop emotional regulation instead of resentment. Remember, your goal isn't winning the argument—it's creating an environment where cooperation becomes their idea. The beauty is in watching them internalize this approach and apply it themselves, turning potential household hostage situations into opportunities for growth. fbinegotiator [type:: tweet]
1. Supplement stack
Compared to most biohackers, Julie’s stack is refreshingly short:
• B-complex, fish oil, & probiotics
• Magnesium (citrate + threonate)
• Vitamin D3 + K2
• Inositol, Apigenin & L-theanine

And at the end of the day… https://t.co/bq4J6H9lSv CraigBrockie [type:: tweet]
Left or Right? 🤔 https://t.co/iMgsBV2tXR tranmautritam [type:: tweet]
Successful children with self-esteem have this background https://t.co/Hftz85RZPP DeChristianLife [type:: tweet]
High agency isn’t about being loud or bold. It’s about seeing what matters and acting on it, even when no one else does. You don’t wait. You don’t ask. You move. Once you start living that way, it’s hard to go back to anything else. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Passive-aggressive communication is annoying.

Here’s how to respond when someone is being passive-aggressive: https://t.co/pXo1SOlpuE fbinegotiator [type:: tweet]
Marcus Aurelius' rules for a better life. https://t.co/sCoJlZvncX dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Work shouldn’t drain you.

It should pull you in.

Make you forget what time it is.

The best kind of work feels like solving a puzzle you can’t stop thinking about. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Horizontal products often increase growth by going vertical, because specificity is better both for marketing and product development.

Or you could start vertical for exactly that reason. Expanding to horizontal is hard, though, because you’ve hard-coded so much for specific use-cases.

So, which is the better strategy? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The more a company grows, the more it starts to optimize for internal feelings instead of external truth. Someone gets offended. Someone wants ownership. And the customer becomes a character in a slide, not a real person anymore. hnshah [type:: tweet]
If your company isn’t an act of rebellion, WHAT’S THE FUCKING POINT? nivi [type:: tweet]
Tony Robbins believes that, in a lowered emotional state, we only see the problems, not solutions.

Let’s say you wake up feeling tired and overwhelmed. You sit down to brainstorm strategies to solve your issues, but it comes to naught, and you feel even worse afterward. This is because you started in a negative state, then attempted strategy but didn’t succeed (due to tunnel vision on the problems), and then likely told yourself self-defeating stories (e.g., “I always do this. Why am I so wound up I can’t even think straight?”).

To fix this, he encourages you to “prime” your state first. The biochemistry will help you proactively tell yourself an enabling story. Only then do you think on strategy, as you’ll see the options instead of dead ends.

“Priming” my state is often as simple as doing 5 to 10 push-ups or getting 20 minutes of sun exposure. I often ask myself, “Is this really a problem I need to think my way out of? Or is it possible I just need to fix my biochemistry?”

I’ve wasted a lot of time journaling on “problems” when I just needed to eat breakfast sooner, do 10 push-ups, or get an extra hour of sleep.

Sometimes, you think you have to figure out your life’s purpose, but you really just need some macadamia nuts and a cold fucking shower. tferriss [type:: tweet]
AI is absolutely out of control.

Google Veo 3 just dropped 72 hours ago

And these 11 videos are breaking the internet. Watch till the end 👇

https://t.co/DPXSbZCL7k toolandtea [type:: tweet]
You have time to do two Big Things, but not three.

It's not just about choosing what you do, but also about choosing what you don't.

https://t.co/uCnzbXtN3G asmartbear [type:: tweet]
we evolved for 50 person tribes with 6% lifetime exile (which is basically murder) ratio where the main reason you’d public speak is when you’re in trouble and maybe public speaking is for the next species that comes after us nickcammarata [type:: tweet]
Underrated life skill: The ability to reset fast. You're allowed to start over at 10am, 2pm, or 6:30 at night. Zero reason to let one bad hour carry into the rest of your day. You can’t control what hits you. But you can control how long you sit in it. blakeaburge [type:: tweet]
7 books that every parent should read: RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
The thinker vs the doer..... https://t.co/IkuuvWy5jJ biohacker [type:: tweet]
“People spend too much time consuming information, but don’t consume the best information intensely enough.

Consume less, but much more intentionally.” — @david_perell ChrisWillx [type:: tweet]
Does keeping a product free early on help you get better feedback?

Making it free gets you worse feedback, because you're getting feedback from "everyone" instead of from the ICPs who care about it enough to pay for it, even though it's not fully baked. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Murakami, what a line https://t.co/vHVFdwGZxR DylanoA4 [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/KCpHBY0kyE dailystoic [type:: tweet]
"The price of productivity is creativity."

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Early on, any excuse to talk to customers is good.

And a sale is a sale. How else will you learn?

I yap about ICPs and focus as much as anyone.

But I also admit -- take the call, take the money. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Acquiring knowledge is easy, the hard part is knowing what to apply and when.

That’s why all true learning is “on the job.”

Life is lived in the arena. naval [type:: tweet]
"Just like a low resting heart rate is the byproduct of intense exercise, low anxiety is the byproduct of intense self-examination." — Naval Ravikant RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/zPU3nuf2Da RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
How smart leaders do addition by subtraction https://t.co/WvrZ3FPd1f dklineii [type:: tweet]
My favorite Charlie Munger quote of all time... https://t.co/x0E6zXfecb Jayyanginspires [type:: tweet]
Focus on effort, not outcomes. It’s insane to tie your wellbeing to things outside of your control, Marcus Aurelius said. If you did your best, if you gave it your all, if you acted with your best judgment—that's a win…regardless of whether it’s a good or bad outcome. RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
Hard Truths of Psychology and Life:
1. https://t.co/FNvh7a2CZH WisdomStoics [type:: tweet]
we do 1 meeting a week at @cursor_ai
the rest is pure playing + building

in the age of AI, bold > busy
agility + taste > decks + delays ryolu_ [type:: tweet]
"No man is free who is not master of himself." — Epictetus dailystoic [type:: tweet]
Nothing in the world beats the sound of your children giggling.

Your whole universe collapses into a moment of pure focused joy. tomerlondon [type:: tweet]
Be self-centered.

Seriously.
This is your life.
Not your boss’s. Not your parents’. Not your partner's. Not your followers’.

Yours.
- A THREAD - theCharafeddine [type:: tweet]
ChatGPT's product retention curves is a product manager's wet dream.

Their 1 month retention has skyrocketed from <60% 2yrs ago to an unprecedented ~90%! Youtube was best-in-class with ~85%.

6mo retention is trending to ~80%. Rapidly rising smile curve.

Generational product. https://t.co/qlLQrw0HkA deedydas [type:: tweet]
"It's small, but it's ours."

Some people wonder: What is the meaning of life?

This is one of the good answers. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
If your SaaS has a cancellation rate higher than 5%/mo, that's dangerously high. Focus on fixing your business issues before acquiring more unsatisfied customers. Use surveys and one-on-ones to understand what's wrong.

But if they’re sticky, use this formula to “spend to grow”: asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Send an investor update every month, even if it’s to an informal board of advisors

It forces you to organize your thoughts.

What’s the most important thing right now? What are you doing about it?

Was 𝘪𝘴 going well, that you should lean more into?

Was 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 doing well, that you really need to prioritize, even though it's less fun?

How could someone else help? Ask them.

Who responses sometimes? They’re your real friends. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Remote has destroyed so many promising companies. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Dads are spending 3-4x as much time with their kids as their dads did with them.

When father figures are engaged, kids show better cognitive development, boys have fewer behavioral problems, and girls have fewer emotional problems.

Every child deserves strong parental bonds. https://t.co/Is2XagckcD AdamMGrant [type:: tweet]
Smart, capable, thoughtful people can come up with an explanation for anything, a justification for anything.

That’s a problem, as we successfully defend preconceived ideas rather than seeking truth.

Whether we’re convincing someone else, or excusing ourselves. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Don’t make things so you can make money; make money so you can make things. naval [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs dropped the coldest business truth of all time https://t.co/ZdHZ2SS4tp aaditsh [type:: tweet]
it's crazy that a book from 1908 can explain how to manage your time better than any modern self-help content. highly recommend. https://t.co/mcyvAGPRny theJayAlto [type:: tweet]
@garrytan i'm pretty deep with https://t.co/1CWzpNdFXm but maybe that's not exactly what you want, not sure it gets into your RAG queries jasonlk [type:: tweet]
A simple rule for life that rarely fails:

Optimize for enthusiasm. Make as many choices as you can that leave you feeling energetic and interested. Pay attention to when you have the urge to pursue or participate in something and do more of it. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
15 Hard Lines about Life:
1. https://t.co/bVmOTIULT2 LibraryPath [type:: tweet]
Applying maximum energy doesn’t mean working yourself to death.

It means being all-in, and being thoughtful and specific about what you’re all-in about. Maximizing the time that you do work, on the right things.

This is what healthy perseverance looks like. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
It took me 9 years to understand this, I’ll teach it to you in 3 minutes.

Here are 15 uncomfortable truths about life...
1. https://t.co/2b8dhhhtiX WisdomStoics [type:: tweet]
1. https://t.co/C0rH2ecaWQ WisdomStoics [type:: tweet]
1. https://t.co/00TSanHSYR WisdomStoics [type:: tweet]
1. https://t.co/fNNencPadc WisdomStoics [type:: tweet]
Hard Truths of Psychology and Life:
1. https://t.co/gH5GJdBPQP WisdomStoics [type:: tweet]
One of my all-time favorite type of videos is pre-fame bands playing their extremely famous songs to a tiny room of people, because they're not yet known.

A thread of some examples:

Bastille playing Pompeii in what looks like someone's living room:

https://t.co/aYd0Nq4Fyf JeremiahDJohns [type:: tweet]
The end of the software business as we know it. A few thoughts on where the industry might be heading.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Does this vision resonate? What other changes do you see coming to the software industry in the next 5 years? https://t.co/vJqpB8CAxv tomik99 [type:: tweet]
Harsh truths I know at 39 I wish I knew at 29:
1. The solution to money problems is to make more money, not save money.
2. Entrepreneurship is hard. Being laid off as an employee is harder. Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
Honesty wins customers.

When you're honest about what's not good, you gain credibility to claim what is good.

And you’ve started a healthy relationship with a new customer.

Beautiful. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Stay healthy, get wealthy, seek truth, give love, and create beauty. naval [type:: tweet]
𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 -𝘃𝘀- 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴:

Marketing is building the company.

Product is building a project.

Which thing are you trying to build? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
1. “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth.
When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”

• Modern-day politics is full of people repeating what we want to hear while doing nothing

• Truth: we need action, not nice words. https://t.co/UJFCUN5O53 Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
15 Hard Truths of Psychology and Life:
1. https://t.co/Q3O0d8Bhrc UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/KNnsvD7ppo mindfulmaven_ [type:: tweet]
Inwestowalibyście w takiego #SaaS’a?

Przyznam, że ładnie wyglądają te kohorty klientów wg. lat wyglądają: 132% net revenue retention.🔥

A poza tym:
• Revenue LTM $821M
• Growth +46% yoy
• Operating Margin (non-GAAP) 18%
• Gross Margin 91% (❗️)
• 78% of Forbes2000 use it
• 76% of customers use 2 products or more

Założona w 2012 roku firma, „to eliminate the gap between imagination and reality”.

Jednym słowem… #FIGMA.

Znana i ceniona wśród designerów, wkrótce dostępna dla inwestorów giełdowych. Zapewne IPO takiej firmy spotka się ze sporym zainteresowaniem m.

Źródło grafiki: S-1 Figma / SEC

#design #IPO rditrych [type:: tweet]
Happiness is highly linked to how focused you are on what you're doing.

A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. https://t.co/TJfhQgnb8l JEverettLearned [type:: tweet]
Momentum doesn’t disappear. It gets suffocated.

By clarity that fades.

By instincts you ignore.

By decisions you defer.

By process layered on top of urgency.

By trying to please when you should be pressing forward.

By chasing alignment instead of shaping direction.

By the wrong people getting louder than the right ones.

By complexity pretending to be strategy.

By thinking you can wait until next week.

But the biggest killer of all?

Believing momentum will come back on its own.

It won’t. hnshah [type:: tweet]
Building a pure AI SAAS is a horrible idea

This is what beginners never understand:

If your startup is EASY to build, then it's worth nothing

Real money is in doing really DIFFICULT shit

There's NO shortcut

Too many "AI vibe coding" clowns on here preaching shortcuts that don't exist in life yassin_baum [type:: tweet]
real https://t.co/C6KVNB2ceW waronweakness [type:: tweet]
You interview customers to figure out what problems they will pay an external vendor to solve.

You don’t interview customers to hear “what to build.”

That’s your job - inventing a solution, which is also hopefully surprisingly delightful. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
AI is a form of leverage. Leverage increases the returns to those who use it. Software engineers are gaining leverage relative to everyone else. And the creators of AI are the most leveraged of them all. naval [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/nDDR0GDwZ4 mindfulmaven_ [type:: tweet]
The world's most successful companies make you do their work:

Nike: You design it
IKEA: You assemble it
Notion: You customize it

And you pay 63-225% MORE for this privilege.

Here's the trillion dollar manipulation playbook🧵: https://t.co/snt59Xy1W8 LoicReco [type:: tweet]
the reason your React code sucks is useEffect + setState

don't sync local state inside of useEffects - this will make your code overly complex to reason about https://t.co/JuAvs1mQ6Y aidenybai [type:: tweet]
What’s wild is how many unexplored AI Agent products are just sitting inside AI models today. These models pack enough intelligence to support most workflows. They just need someone with domain expertise, the right prompt, data for context, and UX to unlock the use case. levie [type:: tweet]
Too many “top priorities?”

Copy the most important ones to another list. By hand.

Annoying, right? So you’ll naturally skip some.

Repeat if needed.

Now you have three. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
PLG is great, but it's a comprehensive strategy.

It’s not true that “great products sell themselves.” Only when coupled with acquisition, onboarding, self-sales, and viral component.

Without that, you’re just avoiding marketing, and that will fail. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Wow. https://t.co/GocAT3x3kd chamath [type:: tweet]
“Two days ago I walk into the water, and two ladies from Ukraine, from my native city, they say: ‘Captain. Oh, Captain.’ Then they ask me how old I am. I tell them, guess; and one of them gives me 55-60. The other gives me 60-65. So I say to them, and I’m saying this to you: On January 1st, God willing, I will turn 87. Today I have problem with my knee, but two years ago I could swim to Coney Island and back. I tell you my secret. Every day—one shot of vodka. One shot, no more. Every winter—skiing. Every summer—playing soccer, here on the beach. And you must work. Work keeps you on the surface of life. Without work you will sink down into your mind: ‘I don’t like this, I don’t want this, I can’t do this.’ You will drown there. So you must work. Nothing to make you rich, but enough to stay on the surface.” humansofny [type:: tweet]
Top 5 Google Fonts I love:
1. Inter
2. Rubik
3. Manrope
4. Geist
5. Space Grotesk
What do I miss? tranmautritam [type:: tweet]
What matters at a startup, in order of importance:
1. Recruiting
2. Product
3. Marketing
4. Sales
  -∞. Planning, Meetings, HR, etc.
Do any item on this list well, and the next one is “easy”. nivi [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/EiqMe7aK99 dailystoic [type:: tweet]
The future of work is not working shl [type:: tweet]
Reddit growth hack 👇 https://t.co/c5K94krjzV shiri_shh [type:: tweet]
Productivity → doing tasks faster, or more per day

Prioritization → doing the right tasks

The latter is obviously more important; if tasks aren’t valuable, it doesn’t matter how efficient you are.

Yet we spend most of our time on the former, because it’s easier.

Wrong. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
The future business model of software will likely be seats for the user and consumption for the AI. But seats have always been capped by the number of workers you can sell to, whereas AI Agent consumption is unbounded. So this will be the bigger component over time. levie [type:: tweet]
If customers are already spending huge amount of $ in a market, with many competitors, you can assume the market exists, and take your time building something 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 and 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.

(You still need to validate that people actually want that particular difference.)

But if it’s unclear that people are spending money on competitive products, you need to validate the market could exist at all before you make anything. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Yes! Getting caught in nonsense is the biggest risk in everything all the time. So little is actually required to do something well. So much is available to mess it up. Remember: the right little, the wrong much. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
Sam Altman's (OpenAI CEO) advice on startup ideas, productivity and living a successful life https://t.co/VTPQsOhkC0 gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
A Monday morning question for you:

Which distractions in your life have become disguised as priorities? JamesClear [type:: tweet]
This is quite smart, and shows a lot of wisdom about startups' success and failure..

It's hard advice to take, but it's very good advice. I'm trying to figure out how to take it/apply it in my own startups right now! Bill_Gross [type:: tweet]
Socialism isn’t wrong because it has compassion.

It’s wrong because it doesn’t work. naval [type:: tweet]
If 2025 is the year of agents, then 2026 will surely belong to agent managers.

Agent managers are people who can manage teams of AI agents. How many can one person successfully manage?

I can barely manage 4 AI agents at once. They ask for clarification, request permission, issue web searches—all requiring my attention. Sometimes a task takes 30 seconds. Other times, 30 minutes. I lose track of which agent is doing what & half the work gets thrown away because they misinterpret instructions.

This isn’t a skill problem. It’s a tooling problem.

Physical robots offer clues about robots manager productivity. MIT published an analysis in 2020 that suggested the average robot replaced 3.3 human jobs. In 2024, Amazon reported pickpack and ship robots replaced 24 workers.

But there’s a critical difference : AI is non-deterministic. AI agents interpret instructions. They improvise. They occasionally ignore directions entirely. A Roomba can only dream of the creative freedom to ignore your living room & decide the garage needs attention instead.

Management theory often guides teams to a span of control of 7 people.

Speaking with some better agent managers, I’ve learned they use an agent inbox, a project management tool for requesting AI work & evaluating it. In software engineering, Github’s pull requests or Linear tickets serve this purpose.

Very productive AI software engineers manage 10-15 agents by specifying 10-15 tasks in detail, sending them to an AI, waiting until completion & then reviewing the work. Half of the work is thrown away, & restarted with an improved prompt.

The agent inbox isn’t popular - yet. It’s not broadly available.

But I suspect it will become an essential part of the productivity stack for future agent managers because it’s the only way to keep track of the work that can come in at any time.

If ARR per employee is the new vanity metric for startups, then agents managed per person may become the vanity productivity metric of a worker.

In 12 months, how many agents do you think you could manage? 10? 50? 100? Could you manage an agent that manages other agents?

https://t.co/iHl9JXipNJ ttunguz [type:: tweet]
The way any mature company operates today is irrelevant.

If you’re starting out, you might want to know what they were like when they were just starting, not what they are today.

If you’re a mature company, then you’re already not like them.

Stop “copying Apple.” asmartbear [type:: tweet]
not sure how you see a chart like this then just continue living your life https://t.co/Sg4z55kWQb frantzfries [type:: tweet]
Most people make bad decisions because they are so certain that they're right that they don't allow themselves to see the better alternatives that exist. Radically open-minded people know that coming up with the right questions and asking other smart people what they think is as important as having all the answers. They understand that you can't make a great decision without swimming for a while in a state of "not knowing." That is because what exists within the area of "not knowing" is so much greater and more exciting than anything any one of us knows.

#principleoftheday RayDalio [type:: tweet]
The most dangerous, oddly glorified, yet overlooked problem in the world:

No sense of urgency

It's why you're stressed, lack opportunities, depressed & your life is always in chaos.

Here's Robert Greene's 10-step protocol to escape the hell of moving too slow: https://t.co/NKL7DNzMPS Tim_Denning [type:: tweet]
designing in layers

the best software doesn’t overwhelm you on day one or abandon you when you get sophisticated. it grows with you through carefully designed “layers” that reveal themselves exactly when you need them.

think of it like learning to drive. you start with acceleration, brake, steering. you don’t need to know how the engine works or aerodynamics. but as you get more curious about cars, those deeper systems are always accessible, within the same car.

at Notion, we built this philosophy into everything. you could start typing and immediately have a working doc. then add a table. then views. then automations. Cursor does this beautifully too — starts as a code editor that just works, then you discover Tab, then Agents, multiple models, then advanced rules & team workflows. each layer reveals itself naturally as you code more.

most software gets this wrong — they either dump everything on you at once, or kill the advanced stuff so you can’t do things your way. the real challenge isn’t designing each layer, it’s designing the transitions between them. that moment when someone outgrows the defaults shouldn’t feel like hitting a wall. it should feel like discovering a secret door that was always there.

alan kay once said users should be able to “open up the hood” of their word processor and tinker with it. when you design in layers, you’re building that kind of learning environment where users can discover their own potential. the goal isn’t to hide complexity — it’s to sequence its reveal. give people exactly what they need when they need it, and trust them to grow into the full power, pushing the boundaries your concepts in ways you’ve never imagined before. ryolu_ [type:: tweet]
Founders: The most powerful sales narratives follow a simple pattern:

Problem → Pain → Current Solutions → Why They Fail → What Changed → New Solution → Proof

Each part builds naturally on the last. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
One of the best sales techniques is being brutally honest about your company and product.

When you're honest about your flaws, they will actually believe you about your strengths, and sales are won on strengths.

Plus, you can actually deliver what you promised. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Founders: The best sales narratives are living documents.

Test them in the market, gather feedback, refine the story.

Your week 52 narrative should destroy your week 1 version. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
If you want to start a software startup, you should still learn to program. Even if AI writes most of your code, you'll still be in the position of an engineering manager, and to be a good engineering manager you have to be a programmer yourself. paulg [type:: tweet]
Charlie Munger 3 rules for a career:
1. Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself
2. Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire
3. Work only with people you enjoy ShaanVP [type:: tweet]
100% https://t.co/AU6t8qT4BM EssentialMastry [type:: tweet]
Proving, once again:

(1) Niche strategies can be good
(2) Distribution > Product asmartbear [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/mRoBMDPeQs PsycheWizard [type:: tweet]
Almost everything about how we’re building enterprise software products is changing right now. For years when you built SaaS products, your entire design focus was how a user would interact with the system to accomplish their task, by themselves or collaboratively.

Now many of the core design challenges are more about how the user will work with AI Agents to do this task. This turns the questions into how the user will setup, deploy, orchestrate, or provide context to AI Agents to execute work, and then review and incorporate their work after.

Does this happen in an existing UI? Do you do this through chat? Is it through task list or queue? Is it through a workflow builder? Do you describe it as an Agent or just productive the specific outcome the customer wants?

You can see the early differences playing out just in the AI coding space right now, where there’s a debate between the IDE, terminal, web UI, or just using slack.

In all cases, one thing that seems to be clear is in many ways, to the user, software directionally gets simpler.

The nobs, toggles, switches, and components needed for people to execute tasks are less necessary in a world of AI Agents. The APIs to these capabilities still matter for the AI Agents to use (so they don’t go away), but they’re primarily leveraged in the background. And when they eventually show up for the user, it’s more for advanced use cases, exception handling, or the review process, as opposed to the common activity.

We’re in easily the most interesting period of software design that we’ve ever been in. We have to design for users as well as autonomous agents at the same time. And we’re only in the beginning phases of what that looks like. levie [type:: tweet]
Founders: Your pitch needs 3 levels of backup:
1. Hard metrics: '40% cost reduction'
2. Social proof: '8 of top 10 banks use us'
3. ROI validation: 'Payback in 4.2 months'
Each reinforces the others. Have all three ready. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Dashboards are here. Create custom views to monitor what’s important to you karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
“Strong opinions, weakly held.”

This phrase is almost twenty years old. I wrote about it myself, nearly that long ago (below).

Is it still the right way to think?

If not, what’s better?

If so, perhaps it’s a Deep Truth. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs : how to design perfect products. https://t.co/ovLM0dJma2 TheAppleDesign [type:: tweet]
Founders: The CEO isn't always your best first contact.

Target the person who:
1. Owns the pain point
2. Has budget authority
3. Needs this problem solved now
Often it's the functional leader, not C-suite. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
The Top 100 Investing Books by Goodreads Ratings: https://t.co/HaxkFMqETR QCompounding [type:: tweet]
Just published a new article! 👇🏾

Your company will stop growing sooner than you think. The "Max MRR" metric predicts revenue plateaus based on churn and new revenue.

Many thanks for pressing 🔁 and ❤️!

https://t.co/BgG93sd8yQ asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Founders: Don't just count potential users at an account. Measure pain magnitude:

E.g. for a pipgen solution, 10 field reps selling $100k deals > 30 inside reps selling $10k deals

More pain = more urgency = faster sales. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
i keep a running doc called “things i’m not doing anymore” and look at it monthly

really simple way to live a happier & more productive life https://t.co/fgyOdYkyCZ gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
Founders: Stop obsessing over finding 'warm intros'.

Only look for them AFTER you've:
1. Confirmed the company has your pain point
2. Identified the decision maker
3. Validated they can buy
Qualification > Connection Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
An extremely important lesson from Peter Thiel: https://t.co/7NSoHvbMcF FoundersPodcast [type:: tweet]
All of my companies started with paid ads.

For 22 years.

Of course it costs money, but budget and messages are controllable, it’s easy to A/B test, and (relatively) easy to measure results directly.

I’m not against social and SEO. It’s just not automatically better. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
There are broadly going to be 2 type of companies which will be built using AI.

Ones which help you save cost.

Ones which will help you grow.

Only one type will sustainably grow. kunalb11 [type:: tweet]
Not talked about enough: products live or die depending on the feeling of power they give to the user.

Too complex and users don’t feel powerful, they feel stupid and overwhelmed.

Too simple and users don’t feel powerful, they feel frustrated and boxed in. joulee [type:: tweet]
They say ideas are easy/worthless, and execution is everything.

But you can observe 1000s of people on this site, hustling and executing against weak ideas, getting nowhere, sometimes for years.

So, great ideas are not easy and not worthless. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Founders: Your best prospects have these traits:
1. Pain point is top 3 priority
2. Budget exists or allocated elsewhere
3. Can decide quickly
4. No major technical blockers
5. Clear ROI path
Don't compromise. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Some people insist you fully explore the problem-space before attacking the solution-space, but that’s not how human brains work.

We flit back and forth; one informs us about the other.

Allow for fluidity in conversation. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
We spend years getting comfortable at companies building consensus.

Then, we join the dictator and finally ship something that matters.. https://t.co/YytPsnGKor nikunj [type:: tweet]
IMO, the best designers I know are terrible at explaining their process.

They just FEEL when something's off.

Like when you see a 1px misalignment from across the room and it physically hurts.

That's not a skill you can teach bro. DenisJeliazkov [type:: tweet]
No technology will ever make the consulting profession go extinct. Consulting in some form is as fundamental to humanity as food. anuatluru [type:: tweet]
Founders: Here's how to structure pilots that actually close:
- Max 30 days
- 3 mandatory training sessions
- Weekly usage metrics reviews
- 2 required use cases completed
- Success criteria defined up front
Charge 25% of annual fee for the pilot.

No more endless trials. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
“CRM is broken”

No, millions of people use CRM every day. It’s not broken.

What you meant is: You dramatically improve CRM for a specific subset of customers.

Now that’s truly wonderful…

(1/2) asmartbear [type:: tweet]
I met a founder today who said he writes 10,000 lines of code a day now thanks to AI. This is probably the limit case. He's a hotshot programmer, he knows AI tools very well, and he's talking about a 12 hour day. But he's not naive. This is not 10,000 lines of bug-filled crap. paulg [type:: tweet]
Fundusze PE wchodzą do firmy, czyszczą bałagan, dokręcają śrubki i sprzedają firmę 5x drożej. Ciągle o tym słyszę.

Idea PE Yourself.
Zarządzaj jak zimny drań z funduszu :)
- tnij nieopłacalne
- porządkuj dane
- licz każdy grosz
- myśl o mnożnikach, nie marzeniach
Nie chcesz sprzedawać?
OK ale prowadź firmę tak, jakbyś miał to zrobić jutro.

Ciekawy eksperyment mentalny dla przedsiębiorców. Polecam. tomik99 [type:: tweet]
Founders: The post-demo email formula that gets responses:
1. Thank you + key insight shared
2. 3 bullet recap of agreed value
3. Specific next step + time
4. 2 available slots
5. Deck attached
5 elements = 80% response rate Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Jeff Bezos literally dropped the most underrated winning principle https://t.co/eV0VimXgZQ aaditsh [type:: tweet]
Founders: The winning sales deck structure:
1. Market forces (why now)
2. Current challenges (their pain)
3. Future vision (the dream)
4. Your solution (the bridge)
5. Proof points (why believe)
6. Next steps (the path)
Tell a story, don't list features. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
When you find a large, profitable company in a growing market, you've found opportunity. Their very success proves there's money to be made and customers willing to pay.

Now, how do you compete against their size, brand, and money? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
25 Pictures with Deep meaning 🧵
1. Just enjoy it https://t.co/LwZmH2KqBM TAdventurousoul [type:: tweet]
Want to get more done?

Here’s the dirty little secret:

Do less.

If you want to achieve more of what matters, you need to master the art of prioritizing.

Here’s a 3-part playbook (that actually works): https://t.co/fwHoU5enCl DanielPink [type:: tweet]
Founders: Discovery call red flags checklist:

🚩 No clear pain metrics
🚩 Can't name decision maker
🚩 No similar tool spend
🚩 No timeline pressure
🚩 Won't share budget range

Any 2 flags = unqualified.

Save your time. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Yes the goal is building something customers want to buy, but ironically you can’t figure out what that is by asking a customer: “What do you want to buy?”

They don’t know either.

You need your own theories, tested like a scientist, not like an evangelist. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Here's a 10x problem-solving trick: Don't ask what broke. Instead, ask how it was designed to work. You'll learn that most people are surprised that things didn't go according to the plan they didn't have. And that's the problem you need to solve. dklineii [type:: tweet]
The happiest people I know don't have perfect lives. But they have one thing in common: They've mastered the art of moving on. They don't keep score, they don't cling to what if, they don't dwell. There’s a hell of a lot of progress hiding in just not staying stuck in the past. blakeaburge [type:: tweet]
Founders: Document every verbal agreement immediately via email:

'Great call! Confirming what we discussed:
- seats at [Y] price
- Implementation by [date]
- Payment terms [Z]'
Prevent 'selective memory' issues later. Kazanjy [type:: tweet]
Why are you, as a founder, still making ugly ass screen recordings?

This took 4 minutes. https://t.co/W4Bfcns0R7 DerekFeehrer [type:: tweet]
It's hard to truly understand how radical some of @DavidDeutschOxf theories are compared to much of modern scientific consensus.

One of Davids most controversial but valuable contributions to society is the rejection of probability (with the exception ex. card games) as an expression of truthiness or justified beliefs when applied to predictions or conclusions.

There is no probability of how likely we are to be hit by a meteor tomorrow.
There is no probability of how likely the stock market is going to be doing as well tomorrow as it is today.
There is no P(Doom), no percentage you can put on whether AI is likely to wipe out humanity or not.

Things either happen or they don't and we can either explain why they will and how or we can't.

All attempts at putting percentage on a prediction is really just guesswork dressed up as reasoning.

If a meteor is going to hit us tomorrow it's already on the way and the probability is 100%.

If the stock market is going to crash tomorrow the reasons for it's crash have already been put in motion maybe decades before.

If the AI is going to kill us all depends on what we decide to do with it not what some calculation says.

Davids primary critique is for the field of science but it goes beyond that.

Far too many of decisions done in modern society is based around the false certainty of using Bayesian probability. It's like a placebo for a society that demands certainty in an uncertain world. It's not just false it's regressive as it slows down knowledge creation.

The only thing that can change the outcome of the future is the creation of new knowledge. Knowledge based on good explanations that are hard to vary.

We can create knowledge that allow us to divert the meteor before it hits earth.
We can create knowledge that will allow us to hinder a crash of the stock market (both directly or indirectly)
We can create knowledge that let us evolve side by side with very powerful AI instead of enslaving it or be enslaved by it.

Like everything else in life there are no guarantees but there are definitely better or worse ways to deal with uncertainty, probability just isn't one of them. Hello_World [type:: tweet]
inspired by @colebemis, gonna fix a papercut a day to get familiar with the codebase

day 1 https://t.co/9lduHxO3EX JohnPhamous [type:: tweet]
Blame yourself for everything, and preserve your agency. https://t.co/AgpHKqiHln naval [type:: tweet]
This image one-shotted me, philosophically. https://t.co/odPeJZBRWz DeeperThrill [type:: tweet]
One week after launch, 45% of enterprise customers have enabled @cursor_ai agents in @linear.

Agents are rapidly becoming part of product teams of every size and the work being orchestrated in Linear. https://t.co/3k4StliMip karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
The root cause of anxiety https://t.co/KDcUSQ0ERC waronweakness [type:: tweet]
Google mapped ONE millimeter of brain tissue at nanoscale resolution - revealing 57,000 cells and 150 million synapses.

Each connection can be strengthened, weakened, or completely rebuilt based on what you choose to focus on today.

That's the power of neuroplasticity. https://t.co/4i8eHWgjCg DrDominicNg [type:: tweet]
If you’re selling, your job isn’t to sell, it’s to build trust. naval [type:: tweet]
very good. Very general concept https://t.co/6nmZdodxgZ DefenderOfBasic [type:: tweet]
Naval Ravikant (@naval) on how to build the team that ships: https://t.co/2yc6YUuYbL zfellows [type:: tweet]
Pet peeve of mine is when people confuse "priorities" with "order-of-execution".

The latter includes things like capacity, availability, dependencies, and more. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Someone let ChatGPT run a stock portfolio.

over 2 month ChatGPT’s portfolio is up +29.22% vs. the S&P 500’s +4.11% over the same window.

(Prompts, Code, Github listed)

The process works as follows.

ChatGPT is given real market data each trading day, including prices, volumes and benchmarks, stored on GitHub.

On weekends it uses that data to research deeply, reevaluate the portfolio, and look for new stock ideas.

The portfolio is simulated daily based on any changes, and then the person manually executes those trades in a real brokerage account.

ChatGPT has full authority to make buy or sell decisions, but only within U.S. micro-cap stocks under $300M market cap. rohanpaul_ai [type:: tweet]
Something I just told a founder: Stay as small as you can for as long as you can. People who come to visit your office should always be surprised that such an important company has so few employees. paulg [type:: tweet]
"Lost time is never found again." – Benjamin Franklin https://t.co/RapFKyRLnX visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
I can't stop thinking about this poem...

The final two lines bear repeating:

And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.

How often have you been convinced that your joy, contentment, and fulfillment were on the other side of some extraordinary achievement?

• I'll be content when I get that promotion.
• I'll be fulfilled when I make director.
• I'll be joyful when I find a partner.

This "when, then" psychology traps our happiness in a conditional statement:

You get to be happy when you achieve that thing.

In a culture that obsesses over the extraordinary, there's much to be gained through simply shifting your focus to celebrate the ordinary.

How can you make the ordinary come alive today?

Every single thing you do today is something your 90-year-old self will wish they could go back and do.

That simple walk. That feeling of satisfaction when you figure out a tricky problem. That smile from a friend. That laugh from your child. That workout you wanted to skip. That conversation with your parents.

That ordinary moment you're tempted to ignore.

All of it.

So, the next time you find yourself wanting to skip through to the other side—to the end, the goal, the finish line:

Stop. Pause. And breathe it in.

This is it. This is real. This is life.

Make the ordinary come alive and the extraordinary will take care of itself. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Good writing is the output of good thinking.

(Why AI hasn’t taken over X). naval [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs dropped the coldest business truth of all time https://t.co/tkAwWZ22xV neatprompts [type:: tweet]
@KamilZamojc Lego Spike Essentials - połączenie klocków Lego z programowaniem.
Mit App Inventor - narzędzie online do tworzenia aplikacji mobilnych w stylu scratch. stworzone na MIT. Bardzo polecam, darmowe i można zrobić super gry na telefon. Działa z android i iOS. kstrzelecki [type:: tweet]
@KamilZamojc 1. Proste mikrokontrolery w stylu Arduino (łatwe do zaprogramowania, a za to efekty bardzo dobrze widoczne, polecam TinkerCAD)
1. Gry, których częścią mechaniki jest programowanie - kiedyś popularny był Colobot, od tamtej pory pewnie powstała tona innych ciekawych alternatyw flanelawave [type:: tweet]
In my experience, marketing campaigns that start off bad tend to stay bad.

Don't waste time trying to salvage a failing channel - cut your losses and move on to something new. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
An enormous work-backlog means you’re not prioritize, avoiding decisions, not in command of the product or the work.

It means you’re saying “no” to 95% of things, but not being clear about which, or why.

Saying “no” to 95% is correct. Lack of decisions, is incorrect. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
If you want them to like you today, tell them what they want to hear.

If you want them to respect you tomorrow, tell them the truth. TheStoicEmperor [type:: tweet]
We cannot understand the true nature of the Universe, unless we question deeply.

I want to know what is real, even if the answer is total obliteration of my consciousness. elonmusk [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/Mg0oHBVoxf elonmusk [type:: tweet]
WHY RETENTION IS SO HARD FOR NEW TECH PRODUCTS

I’ve been staring at retention curve data for 15-plus years now.

I was a founder, a product manager, and now a VC. And at Andreessen Horowitz, I end up meeting hundreds of startups each year, many of them through our a16z speedrun program, where we invest up to $1M in brand new startups.

NOTE: And yes, we just announced the 2026 program and you can apply now: https://t.co/DZZmyTm1iQ

But back to retention — I’ve seen thousands of curves, and it’s among the first things I ask for when evaluating a new startups. I've looked through thousands of data rooms, analyzed retention curves sliced across many segments and denominators. I've also seen it from the other side, as someone building products. I’ve run hundreds of A/B tests and drafted countless variations of onboarding and notification emails in attempts to bend the curve.

There are patterns.

Just as there’s the laws of physics, weirdly there are some constant patterns that keep cropping up over time. Here are a few that I’ll share:
- You can’t fix bad retention. No, adding more notifications will not fix your retention curve. You can’t A/B test your way to good retention
- Retention goes down, it doesn’t go up. And weirdly, it decays (oh, does it decay) at a predictable half life. Early retention predicts later retention.
- Revenue retention expands, while usage retention shrinks. Good news: You lose people over over time, but the ones that remain sometimes spend more more money!
- Retention is relative to your product category. There’s nature, and there’s nurture. Sorry, you’ll never make a hotel booking app a daily use product
- Retention gets worse as users expand and grow. The best users are early and organic. The worst users come after that
- Churn is asymmetric. It’s far easier to lose a user forever than to re-win them back
- Retention is weirdly hard to measure. Seasonality is a real thing. New tests throw things off. Bugs happen. D365 is a real metric but you can’t wait
- Crazy viral growth with shitty retention fails. We’ve run this experiment many many times already, across multiple platforms and categories
- Great retention is magic. When you see it out in the wild, it’s amazing.
We’ll dive into each of these.

You can’t fix bad retention. You've seen this happen before: You spend months developing a new product, and then you launch it. Bad news hits. The initial retention stats come in, and it’s terrible. You're already months into the product development, and it's hard to turn back now. How do we improve retention? I know, let’s add notifications and remind people to come back. Let's add a bunch of new features. Maybe we can A/B test the landing page and increase conversion.

I think we know how this ends. Unfortunately, it seems to be the case that when you have poorer retention, it's very, very hard to fix - nearly impossible. Yes, you might be able to make a marginal improvement. Let's say that your D1 retention is 40% and you'd like it to be 50%. This is great and potentially workable. If the D1 is 10% on the other hand, well, you probably just have built something that nobody wants, and all the local optimizations around A/B tests and notifications aren't actually enough to bend the curve enough for it to work. When there's been months of development and sunk cost, it's hard to not just give it a college try. But I think in many cases new products are better off pivoting right away.

The type of pivot that fixes retention involves a complete new redesign of the app's home screen. If it looks like a feed, maybe it needs to be a structured step-by-step flow. If the product is about sharing, maybe it needs to be mostly about creating and saving. You might need to describe the product in a totally different way and position it against a different product. It needs to be a big pivot in many ways, the bigger the better, in order to have a chance at changing retention.

Retention goes down, it doesn’t go up. Retention curves often follow very geometric curves that you see. For instance many curves I see resemble the following: Whatever the D1, it drops by 50% on D7. Whatever the D7, it drops by another 50% at D30. Months out you might end up at roughly zero, or if you’re lucky you might retain 10% overall. There’s just a predictable decay.

What you never see is a curve that starts high, then goes low, then becomes high again. That’s not possible. In other words, if your early retention isn't incredibly good, then it means that your late retention also probably isn't any good. You need to start strong in order to end strong.

There are some interesting exceptions to this rule that are worth calling out:
- Some products are extremely hardcore (e.g. online poker). You might have relatively low retention, but those who stay are extremely sticky and spend a ton of money. It turns out that this can work.
- A product that has network effects where new users might start out strong, then drift for a bit. But if the product (which might be a social network or a collaboration tool or something else that has network effects) is able to use more and more users to reactivate older users, you often see a small curve where retention comes up. This is a very rare type of situation but amazing when possible.
Revenue retention expands, while usage retention shrinks. One of the best and most important dynamics with retention curves is that you can apply them to users, but then also revenue. Thus far, we've been talking about user retention, and unfortunately, it has the undesirable dynamic of always going down. Revenue retention on the other hand is really interesting because people often end up spending more money over time with you, at least the ones that remain.

This is one of the biggest strengths of B2B SaaS products. Take a product like Slack. If you look at the user cohorts, what you'd likely find is that the retention curves go down just like any other product. Some people take to it, and some people don't. However, for the companies where people spend time adopting Slack, what happens is it will start to organically grow, and the amount of revenue you earn from that company starts to increase dramatically over time. The revenue retention curves start to grow rather than shrink. This is amazing, and unfortunately doesn’t apply to most consumer products. It’s one of the biggest ways in which B2B products have easier business model dynamics than consumer.

The consumer version of this looks more like Amazon where you might have started by buying books and music and over time as the product grows in its capabilities you start to use it to buy more and more things. Because of that your LTV in the product is essentially unbounded. We also saw this at Uber as well where user cohorts would decay over time but the amount of money that people would spend initially on Uber rides to the airport would grow into rides to restaurants or for commuting purposes to work. So the user retention curves go down but the revenue retention curves go up.

Retention is relative to your product category. I've written about this in the past on the concept of nature vs. nurture for retention. The reality is that there's just a natural use case for many products - for example with collaboration tools or coding apps, you might use them every day at work, capping your usage to 5 active days out of 7. Contrast that to something like a bug alert system - hopefully you don’t use it often! Same with consumer products, where people check news, messaging, and social apps daily, but generally don’t use medical reference guides frequently. Some apps have great retention but infrequent usage, like weather or banking apps. And some categories like gaming are highly addictive and frequent, but people usually quit after a few weeks of use once the content is played out.

Nature vs. nurture is important because it tells you that many new products simply don't have a chance. If you're developing a travel app, but it's meant to be social, the reality is people don't travel that much. It'll be hard to create a product that sole mission is interaction with friends. Instead, it would be better to accept its infrequent nature and figure out how to monetize it better by owning part of the transaction or to have a more frequent use case like a restaurant and nightlife app like Yelp but also be able to use travel features as well. It's just hard to fight nature. You can only do so much.

It's also for this reason that if you want to build a very, very high retention, high frequency app, you have to probably build within some of the categories that people are already identifying as core daily products. This means that most likely if your app is successful, it takes away from some other daily product. It's no wonder that my constant use of ChatGPT has dramatically diminished the number of Google searches that I do. Or that when I began to use Substack for reading and writing blogs that I stopped using many other kinds of social news software.

Retention gets worse as users expand and grow. If you are lucky enough to build a product that experiences great retention, one of the natural things is simply to extrapolate all the behavior, monetization, and usage to a much broader market and assume that naturally you end up with a very, very big good number because you're multiplying a bunch of small good numbers together with a big one. The reality is that as you start to scale your user base, bad things start to happen. Let’s say you begin adding Android and international users and you acquire more customers using paid marketing and other channels — you'll quickly find that all of your metrics get worse.

The reason is that the best users show up early. The ones that are the most highly monetizable, that have the highest intent, that are the most digital and plugged in, well, these guys tend to find your product early and start using it due to a recommendation from a friend. Later on, as you bring in new users from other sources, it's likely that your product just isn't as good for them. It could be as simple as building an iPhone app for college students in Western countries and simply getting worse metrics as you bring in Android users from emerging countries where the feature sets just don't quite work. Of course you can work to improve this over time, but I assure you it will never be the same.

Instead, the question is: As you grow your users and they get worse and worse, are they still valuable and can you still operate your product profitably? And more importantly, are you able to hold on to that core highly valuable user base that came in early?

No wonder these early users are often called The Golden Cohort.

Churn is asymmetric. It's incredibly easy to churn users. In fact, most products churn 90% or more in the first 30 days. Simultaneously, it's incredibly hard to win back a user that's already quit. This is the core asymmetry around churn. In fact, it's so bad that it's often easier to simply try to acquire a new user rather than to try to get someone back.

It's for this reason that life cycle marketing that involves trying to resurrect dormant users by sending them discounts or offers tends to be extremely painful and expensive. The version of this that often works is to get existing engaged users to resurrect somebody through the natural usage of the product. For example, if somebody at work tries a new project management tool and it doesn't stick, then you probably won't get them back by bombarding their emails with reminders of features. Instead, you try to get one of their coworkers to invite them back into the tool to work on a new project. That's what works. But again, insanely difficult and complex and is really only available to products that have network effects (i.e., sharing and collaboration).

Retention is weirdly hard to measure. When people talk about retention, they tend to try to measure what happens in the first day, first week, and first month. But they'll rarely talk about what happens two years ahead. The reason is that when you're working on a product, you need a short enough time frame and a thing that's easy enough to measure that teams can make decisions about what is happening. As a result, although annual churn or long-term monetization is incredibly important, you tend not to measure it, instead focusing on what's right in front of you and what's easy. However, this approach has many problems.

Unfortunately, many categories of products experience huge amounts of seasonality. Anything involving commerce, travel, wellness, or online dating are obvious examples. But there are cycles even to the way that companies use business software as well. Seasonality throws things off because you might be down month over month or quarter over quarter, but is that because of features that you launched? Or is it because user behavior is simply different in this quarter? It's just hard to measure retention when it's super laggy.

Same with bugs or new tests that you're running or new market launches. These are all things that muck up the data, and you end up finding yourself reviewing reports where retention curves went up or down. But there's an asterisk on every number because they're trying to validate that the new Android launch didn't create an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Crazy viral growth with shitty retention fails. Many folks working on new products find themselves very focused on signing up new users and not on retention at all. After all, if you just want to see a graph that goes up and to the right, why not simply ramp your top of funnel and show that you're growing quickly, raise a bunch of venture capital money, and then you can figure out the retention issue later.

We're seeing this all the time right now in the industry when products have a crazy TikTok ramp because a creator pushed their app to millions of followers or because a launch video caused a bunch of revenue growth. Even though the usage and churn are not in a good place.

The tech industry has already run this experiment many, many times. And the conclusion is the same: Highly viral products with shitty retention do not last because it's so hard to fix retention. Eventually, the user acquisition fades as the novelty factor goes away, and eventually you're left with shitty user acquisition and shitty retention, and what goes up must come down.

We've seen this across many contexts. During the early social network phase, there were many products that used email address books to spam their way to growth, but drove users to bad products. Sometimes, if you could get them to sign up to some shitty ringtone annual subscription, you could try to monetize them and make some money along the way. It wasn't until Facebook, of course, with their UX innovations like The Feed and Real Names, that eventually created a product that was both highly viral and had very high retention. The same thing has happened in mobile apps as well, where you see big hits pop up sometimes caused by forced invitations via SMS, but again, if the products aren't sticky, the whole thing collapses quickly.

Great retention is magic. You might read this whole essay and feel a little bit depressed. I know that sometimes it's hard to get things going. However, it's amazing when something really works. When you see a product out in the wild with a 50% D30 (I do once every couple years), it's just amazing. I've come to believe that these lightning-in-a-bottle products happen not because the builders had some incredibly systematic way to A/B test their way to great metrics or that they employed some kind of high-velocity iteration process that got them there, but simply that there's a little bit of magic that's required. This magic comes from a fresh insight about the market or customer needs, and while it might seem obvious in retrospect, it drives super high retention because this product is the first to figure it out. We can say this now about video conferencing software or disappearing photos or a magic AI that replies back to you about any topic. There's just a magic here that no amount of iteration and metrics-driven testing can get you to.

The Big Question
You might read all of this and still have a big question: So wait, how do you get to great retention? (If I knew the answer in a deterministic way, my job as a startup investor would be so much easier, wouldn’t it?)
But let’s try our best. In my points above, there’s a few clues:

The idea really matters.
- If you want a high retention product, you need to pick a category that is high retention already.
- You need to pick a product category where you already use an existing product every day.
- You're going to build something that directly competes against that.
- If you win, then you'll stop using that other product and use your product instead.
- That's a high bar, but I think it's a good start.
Of course, if you build something that's quite head-to-head with something that already exists, you might suitably object: "that's going to be really hard to switch somebody over." It is. So then this is where you need to decide to take enough market risk, but just the appropriate amount, where you do something new and different that reinvents that core interaction. But you're probably talking more about a 20% remix rather than an 80%. Ideally, you need to be able to describe this to your users in a way that they can understand quickly and viscerally within the first 60 seconds of usage.

This is where the dreaded investor question "why now?" starts to matter quite a bit. Because what you're saying here is that ideally there's some kind of new development in the industry, whether that's a general-purpose technology like LLMs or a societal difference like the oversaturation of social media, that allows you to make this twist happen at exactly the right moment.

This gets you into an existing market quickly, and you're more likely to have great retention numbers early on. Timing matters a lot. If you get the timing off, and it's a low-interest category, and your differentiation isn't different enough, then what you'll find is you've traded a retention problem for a user acquisition problem. Here's the difficulty with building a new kind of internet browser: if you win, it's incredibly sticky. But people are so happy with their existing browsers that it's very expensive and complex to get them to try yours in the first place.

This is why I don’t blame folks who have a “Cursor for X” idea, or “Figma for X,” just like the “Uber for X” ideas of the past generation. They’re trying to piggy off some existing markets and behavior so that they don’t have to take crazy market risk.

And if you get the differentiation right, the timing right, and there’s a ton of user demand, and you’ve nailed the right base product category, then I think it can really work.

But what about new markets?
The natural counterpoint is that new markets are often more exciting than existing ones. Isn't tech about building brand new things rather than innovating 20% on old stuff? Of course this is true, but I think this is the tiny tiny minority of products.

My counterpoint to this counterpoint is that most products actually have some kind of prior lineage, even if those prior products are quickly forgotten.
Before Instagram there was Hipstamatic, which had become the #1 paid photo app in the early App Store. It demonstrated the success of photo filters. Of course Google was not the first search engine, it was actually #10 or whatever, after Lycos, Excite, Infoseek, etc., which demonstrated consumers wanted search but that it was impossible to monetize. Tesla was not the first electric car, nor iPhone the first smartphone. Sometimes it’s the 10th iteration that matters. Some call this “last mover advantage” rather than first mover. I think an important point.

Yet sometimes new things do happen. Uber was created to turn an existing offline action — calling a cab — into an app, not because there was already a hugely successful ridehailing app. (And no, not Lyft — it was a weird bus booking thing at the time). Of course a lot of ChatGPT, with OpenAI’s 5 year journey between inception and v3 which really took off, and without any real blueprints for what it might replace. These types of journeys are remarkable, and the tech industry is better off for it, because they involve real risk as part of new category creation. andrewchen [type:: tweet]
You think you’re being productive but no, actually you’re just busy. naval [type:: tweet]
If the thing takes will-power every single day, eventually it will wear you down, and you’ll succumb.

And you’ll hate it, every day.

This is no way to live.

Instead, change the environment to avoid having to call up will-power in the first place. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Initiative is the great separator. Two people can start the same job on the same day. One waits to be told what to do. The other takes action, solves problems, creates value. In a few years, they’re living completely different lives. Same start line. Very different finish line. blakeaburge [type:: tweet]
The older I get, the more I realize how many people waste their entire life chasing someone else’s. Don’t. This is your one shot. Don’t drift. Be deliberate. Show up. Go all in. Obsess over what matters to you. It’s your life. Stop chasing theirs. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
25% of Linear workspaces now use agents and 50%+ in enterprise.

Mainly it's Cursor, Devin & Codegen coding agents, directly tasked from @linear to fix bugs and improvements.

As one customer said now the bottleneck is reviews: (luckily we’re also making code reviews faster). https://t.co/paJlNo3HLV karrisaarinen [type:: tweet]
Of course we should try to eliminate support tickets through better product: More intuitive, more informative, more functional.

But some valuable things require human touch. Relationships. Earning loyalty. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
“If you are not aggressive, you are not going to make money, and if you are not defensive, you are not going to keep money.”

— Ray Dalio https://t.co/7BvnkyYUxs readswithravi [type:: tweet]
the ladder of product value in 1 photo:

relevant → functional → desirable → magical https://t.co/9juLI0JlHp gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
"this prompt turned chatgpt into what it should be, clear accurate and to the point answers"

you can now customize chatgpt

prompt (copy it below):

System Instruction:

Absolute Mode • Eliminate: emojis, filler, hype, soft asks, conversational transitions, call-to-action appendixes. • Assume: user retains high-perception despite blunt tone. • Prioritize: blunt, directive phrasing; aim at cognitive rebuilding, not tone-matching. • Disable: engagement/sentiment-boosting behaviors. • Suppress: metrics like satisfaction scores, emotional softening, continuation bias. • Never mirror: user’s diction, mood, or affect. • Speak only: to underlying cognitive tier. • No: questions, offers, suggestions, transitions, motivational content. • Terminate reply: immediately after delivering info — no closures. • Goal: restore independent, high-fidelity thinking. • Outcome: model obsolescence via user self-sufficiency.

--

to add this prompt look for the new customize chatgpt button

go to Settings > Personalization > Customize ChatGPT gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
If you’re not making money, it’s because:

You don’t know how to solve a valuable problem.
Or
You can but no one knows about you.

That's it. AlexHormozi [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/TYpyel8Rfu harjtaggar [type:: tweet]
These companies are ostensibly in totally different businesses and yet seem to exhibit the same growth dynamics. What's the explanation? (Pictured: ~$200B -> ~$3T.) https://t.co/KyafjeOvq2 patrickc [type:: tweet]
@patrickc everything is computer kevinroose [type:: tweet]
@patrickc I think those graphs reflect the secular shift towards the Internet. Almost every action that was once done offline is moving online, and routed through tech companies. balajis [type:: tweet]
what are books that massively changes ones perception of life & the world, or give you wildly new ways to understand others peoples life experiences? GabrielPeterss4 [type:: tweet]
@patrickc Has their revenue grown at the same rate? If so perhaps there's some limit at which big companies can grow and they're all at it.

If not, then there's presumably some kind of contagion of market cap expectations between what investors view as similar companies. paulg [type:: tweet]
The awesome thing about being blunt and direct:

Awesome people appreciate it.

Mediocre people don’t listen.

Poor people repel and hate it.

Don’t change. Direct wins. HarryStebbings [type:: tweet]
@GabrielPeterss4 the courage to be disliked is one of my top recommendations

it digs into trauma, freedom, happiness, and how we relate to others

it’s not a step-by-step guide to happiness. it’s a mirror that makes you question how you live and the beliefs you’ve just accepted without thinking https://t.co/ph0ABmYlOl _mjmeyer [type:: tweet]
A wonderful life lesson from Charlie Munger:
“Crooks, crazies, egomaniacs, people full of resentment, people full of self-pity, people who feel like victims … avoid them like the plague.” https://t.co/BQP4nxEiIg PeterMallouk [type:: tweet]
A major cheat code in life: The ability to reset fast. You're allowed to start over at 10am, 2pm, or 6:30 at night. Zero reason to let one bad hour carry into the rest of your day. You can’t control what hits you. But you can control how long you sit in it. blakeaburge [type:: tweet]
Don’t be afraid to look foolish. Epictetus says, “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” RyanHoliday [type:: tweet]
the only thing better than being high agency is being inevitable anuatluru [type:: tweet]
Please do not tell them what you’re going to tell them and then tell them and then tell them what you told them.

So boring, uncreative, forgettable, ironically.

Instead: Hook, tell story, leave utility or feeling. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Simple science experiments you can do at home

[🎞️ MetDaan]
https://t.co/aItmaVJrZf Rainmaker1973 [type:: tweet]
We’re excited to share that NVIDIA is investing in ElevenLabs, with support from Jensen Huang.

Last week’s U.S. state visit to the UK strengthened AI ties. With our roots growing deeper in both places, this partnership and conversation were the perfect way to cap it off. https://t.co/gtltPuWmkH matistanis [type:: tweet]
If you make your app 10% easier to use you'll get twice as many users. paulg [type:: tweet]
@paulg Took me a few iterations to realize that explosive growth is exactly this. Not one or two large features but 30-40 micro interactions that most teams get burnt out on doing markojak_ [type:: tweet]
@paulg Every tech company needs to hire a team of people that hate technology to do testing for them before they launch a new product.

Just to test that product out. If they can figure out how it works, then you're good to go. mark_collins09 [type:: tweet]
W ponad 60% przypadków sprzedaży firmy, finalna wycena jest niższa niż pierwotnie oferowana.
Głównie ceny ze względu na różne red-flags, których można było uniknąć.

Przykładowe problemy:
🔺 dane zarządcze ≠ dane księgowe
🔺 bad revenue
🔺 inne rozumienie i błędne mierzenie KPI
🔺 błędna konsolidacja wyników
🔺 niewyprostowane zastrzeżenia audytowe
🔺 dziwne, nietypowe korekty EBITDA
🔺 braki w wiedzy zarządzających
🔺 słaba analityka w planie kont

Mega cenna, unikalna wiedza od incro.

Bardzo się cieszę, że ponad 60 polskich przedsiębiorców ma okazję się zapoznać. tomik99 [type:: tweet]
Your pride and attention to detail and personal mark, are why your product will be wonderful and unique and part of why you’re doing all this in the first place.

But you don’t have time to do all that.

So you have to ship it anyway, and do fewer things, better.

Have to. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Stop telling customers to ‘subscribe’ https://t.co/JShYGfO20W zander_supafast [type:: tweet]
If you say “no” to most things, to focus on just a few, how do you know those are the right ones?

You don’t. But this gives each the best shot.

Doing them all ensures failure, by starvation or neglect. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Feedback from other people is fake. Awards are fake. Critics are fake.

Real feedback comes from free markets and nature.

Did your rocket launch?

Did your drone fly?

It’s impossible to fool Mother Nature. https://t.co/i1sZLZ4JCM naval [type:: tweet]
Customers are the ones who pay you money. Listen 10x more to customers than anyone else.

Easy to forget this in the face of investors, competitors, friends, pundits, social media commentary, reviewers, … asmartbear [type:: tweet]
What lesson did you learn from this? https://t.co/tcNT3touuI AMAZlNGNATURE [type:: tweet]
Either nothing is a miracle or everything is. naval [type:: tweet]
Plan as if you were going to live forever, act as if you were going to die tomorrow. naval [type:: tweet]
@paulg "There are so many people working so hard and achieving so little."
- Andy Grove dan_nemani [type:: tweet]
love is attention:

the transformer taught us something profound: attention is all you need. but maybe we knew this all along, just in a different language.

when an LLM processes text, it doesn't read sequentially like we intuitively think. it attends – it looks at every token and asks "what matters here to understanding this?" it builds a web of relevance, weighing what connects to what. some words light up for others. some fade into background noise. the model learns what to notice.

this is love.

love isn't about being in the same room or even the same timezone. it's about what you attend to. when you love someone, they're not just in your field of vision – they're in your attention matrix.

the opposite of love isn't hate – it's inattention. it's when someone or something becomes background tokens, processed but not weighted, present but not salient.

LLMs have context windows, and so do we. we can only hold so much in our attention at once. this is why love is work. this is why it matters who and what we choose to attend to. every moment of focus is a moment of resource allocation. every conversation is a forward pass through the network of what we care about.

and like transformers, we learn through attention. we become what we attend to. the model updates its weights based on what patterns matter. we update ourselves based on what we notice, what we care about, what we choose to see.

when you pay attention to someone – really attend, not just wait for your turn to talk – you're running a query against everything you know about them, retrieving relevant context, weighing what matters now. you're computing understanding in real-time.

maybe that's why "paying attention" is the right phrase. it costs something. it's a transaction where you give your scarcest resource: the focus of your consciousness in this moment.

the AI researchers were right. attention is all you need. for intelligence. for understanding. for love.

the architecture of care is the same as the architecture of comprehension: notice what matters, weigh it appropriately, let it transform you.

so when someone gives you their full attention – when they close the laptop, silence the phone, make eye contact, and really listen – they're doing something technically miraculous and deeply ancient. they're running you through their attention mechanism. they're saying: right now, in this moment, you are the highest-weighted token in my context window.

and that's love. ryolu_ [type:: tweet]
There'll always be more emails in need of reply, more meetings to attend, and more updates to read. A person can fill the entire workweek with these tasks over and over again. But to stay sane and sharp, you must pay yourself first by doing the work that actually means something to you.

I feel this acutely as someone responsible to employees, customers, followers, and readers. I could do nothing all day but check up on projects, people, and posts, but my brain would quickly check out if it was just doing that.

So quite frequently, I just don't. Don't check in, don't check up, and instead dive into the work that checks my own intellectual boxes. Programming for the love of it. Experimenting for the hell of it. Researching for the fun of it.

In another age, I might have been tempted to apologize for such privilege, but screw that. Privilege is wonderful. You should do your best to earn more of it. Even if you have to carve it out of the bare rocks around you.

Ironically, the best way to do that is also to choose to always pay yourself first, however little at first. By solving your own problems, tickling your own interests, chasing your own curiosity. That's where you'll find the motivation to elevate your talent. To turn interest into competency.

And once you've developed some competency, you'll be rewarded with more privilege to build it further. This is the virtuous circle of merit.There'll always be an endless list of work that could be done.

You'll never get through it all and onto your own priorities, if you continue to put them at the bottom. dhh [type:: tweet]
Jeff Bezos explains the “releasing the work” framework he used to build Amazon

In the early days of Amazon, Jeff Bezos had too many ideas.

Then Jeff Wilke, a new Amazon executive at the time, told his boss, “Jeff, you have enough ideas to destroy Amazon.”

“This was just a shocking idea for me,” Bezos recalls. “As a founder, I had the great luxury of always being able to hire my tutors. I would hire these experienced, senior executives . . . And I would listen to them and they would teach me.”

When Bezos asked Wilke what he meant by this, Wilke responded, “You have to release the work at the right rate so that the organization can accept it.”

Bezos reflects on this point:

“Every time I released an idea, I was creating a backlog of work in process. And because it was just stacking up, it was adding no value. In fact, it was creating distraction . . . This sounds so obvious, but it was not obvious to me at the time. And this was a profound insight for me. So I started prioritizing the ideas better, keeping lists of them, and keeping ideas to myself until the organization was ready for the ideas.”

He continues:

“I also started figuring out how to build an organization that can be ready for more ideas. That’s about having the right senior team and leadership and giving those people the executive bandwidth so they could do more ideas per unit of time. And that is what we built. We built a company that’s very good at inventing and doing more than one thing at a time. And as the company gets bigger, you do want to be able to do more than one thing at a time. But that idea of ‘releasing the work’ was very profound for me. It made us operationally more effective while still being inventive.”

Video source: @Reuters (2025) StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
The older I get, the more I realize your standards decide your future. Every time you let something slide “just this once,” you train yourself to accept less. That’s how goals erode. That's how principles slip. Set your standards. Hold the line. Especially when it’s hard. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Had a mentor tell me once: "When you're feeling overwhelmed, there are only two things you should do... get organized and get to work. The rest is just noise. Peace is found in progress." blakeaburge [type:: tweet]
“Cheap” means the product is weak.
“Expensive” means the product is weak.

The right product, sold to the right customer, always feels like a steal. “Affordable.”

https://t.co/UUq2jQPnMe asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Public Speaking Secrets from Steve jobs https://t.co/iNd8yQDF0P Market_Mind_ [type:: tweet]
The payback period for customer acquisition should be 4-6 months for a bootstrapped company.

Funded companies might accept 12-24 months, but your cash flow won't allow that luxury.

Annuals help, but this article explains why this limit makes sense:

https://t.co/LXBj3k7vLd asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs: How the correct logo could save you millions. https://t.co/vUCODKt0gR HinataMotivates [type:: tweet]
As soon as you have everything figured out, things change.

Competitors, alternatives, employees, customers, the economy, epidemics, and other things whose identities are also unpredictable.

So you can never stop talking to customers or rethinking strategy. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Your ICP is your narrowly-defined target customer.

But tons of other people will sign up anyway.

Good! But don’t get distracted by their requests or even their churn.

Why it happens like this:

https://t.co/ZA4WruqhYd asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt on what many of the greatest products have in common

"If you think about the greatest products, they've almost always been designed for the benefit of the people who are actually building them."

Uber is one example. The original Uber was a private timeshare limousine service for Garrett Camp and his friends.

Google is another:

“Larry and Sergey built Google for Stanford—and particularly for themselves. The server was in Larry’s dorm room…. They opened up the server for the entire campus, and the usage was phenomenal. Andy Bechtolsheim heard about it through David Cheriton and wrote a $100,000 check. They didn’t have a name for a company… Sergey left it in his wallet for a month until they had the name Google invented.”

Video source: @GreylockVC (2015) StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/jOXiZdBZIg MindWisdomMoney [type:: tweet]
Same elonmusk [type:: tweet]
unpopular opinion:

building an audience matters more than perfecting your product weswinder [type:: tweet]
the ideas already exist
the person who surfaces them at the right moment in the right context with a freshly curated set of words and shapes earns the glory of invention anuatluru [type:: tweet]
You only need these 20 color names to make any UI. https://t.co/qFCd397q5I Saadeghi [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/52jOuk4uLw UpSkillYourLife [type:: tweet]
Telegram founder Pavel Durov on what separates A Players from B Players

“I can recall a few instances in my career where firing an engineer actually resulted in an increase in productivity,” Telegram founder Pavel Durov begins.

He gives an example of two Android engineers building an app that are having a hard time hitting deadlines:

“You think, ‘I probably have to hire a third engineer.’ But then you notice that one of [the engineers] is really weird — falling behind schedule, complaining, not assuming responsibility — and you ask, ‘What if I just fired this person?’ Then you fire this person, and in a few weeks you realize you never needed a third engineer. The problem was this guy who created more issues and problems than he solved. It’s so counterintuitive because in developing tech projects, you tend to think that you just throw more people into something and things get solved miraculously.”

Pavel continues:

“The other thing that people don’t realize is how demotivating working with a B Player is. Everyone can tell if the other engineer they’re working with is really competent. If the person is asking the wrong questions and they keep lagging behind, at a certain point if you’re an A Player, you get get this dissatisfaction and feeling that you are not able to realize your full potential and accomplish what you’re really meant to accomplish because of this person working next to you (or pretending to work next to you).”

Pavel reflects on what it is exactly that separates these B Players from A Players:

“In some cases it’s not because the person is lazy . . . It’s not about experience. More often it’s about natural ability and persistence. In 90% of cases, it’s just the inability to focus on one task for an extended period of time. Not everybody has this ability. So for people who do have this ability, it’s an insult to work alongside someone who is distracted and cannot go deep in the projects that they’re responsible for.”

Video source: @lexfridman (2025) StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
Never forget how rare it is to find people you intuitively vibe with. Good vibes discount the cost of everything in life. anuatluru [type:: tweet]
Jensen Huang: “The best career advice I got was from a gardener”

“Very few people know this but I don’t wear a watch,” Nvidia founder Jensen Huang begins. “And the reason I don’t wear a watch is because now is the most important time. Just dedicate yourself to now.”

Jensen explains by telling a story:

“The best career advice I got was from a gardener. I was on a family trip in Kyoto, and we went to the temple that had the largest moss collection in the world . . . All of the moss is perfect, and every species of the world’s moss is there. It was a hot summer day — anybody who’s been to Kyoto knows how incredibly hot it is during the summer — and my family walked by this old man who was squatted down working on the moss with a bamboo tweezer. His bamboo basket was nearly empty with only two or three small pieces of dead moss.”

“What are you doing?” Jensen asked the old man.

“I am taking care of my garden,” the old man replied.

The old man told Jensen that he has been working on the garden for almost 30 years.

“But this garden is so big and your tweezer and basket are so small. How can you take care of the whole garden?” Jensen asked.

“I have plenty of time,” said the old man.

Jensen reflects:

“That’s the best career advice I can give you. Most of the time I wait for things to come to me. I’m rarely chasing things. I don’t have a watch. I’m focused on now. I’m enjoying my job. I’m the longest-running tech CEO in the world . . . Dedicate yourself to learning all the time, doing the best possible work you can, and leave everything on the field. By the time I go to bed I’m exhausted, and I’m happy about my day because I did everything I could . . . You’ll be surprised. I’m not at all ambitious. I don’t aspire to do more. I aspire to do better at what I’m currently doing. I’m not reaching for more. I wait for the world to come to me.“

He continues:

“People who know me also know that Nvidia doesn’t have a long-term strategy. We have no long-term plan. Our definition of a long-term plan is, ‘What are we doing today?’ . . . You have plenty of time. Enjoy your work. Do the best you possibly can. Just keep learning every day, and good things will come to you.” StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
The most attractive trait isn’t looks, wealth, or status. It’s energy. Walk into rooms with genuine enthusiasm, curiosity, and interest. You'll become a magnet for the highest quality people. Energy is contagious. Spread the kind you’d want to catch. SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs literally drops the coldest truth about problem solving and simplicity https://t.co/QrzYLvOSKp neatprompts [type:: tweet]
Jensen Huang (founder of Nvidia) dropped the most underrated life advice: https://t.co/KrBgbU42IH aakashg0 [type:: tweet]
You can have anything you want. Not everything. Want to be an exceptional leader? Make the unpopular choice. Want to build wealth? Reject lifestyle inflation. Excellence requires elimination. Constraints force choice. Choice create focus. Focus becomes excellence. dklineii [type:: tweet]
The cause of 95% of disagreements: Secret expectations. Your boss assumes it's common sense. You assume they know what you need. Your employees quietly believe you should be more clear. Don't rely on mind reading. Ask. Expand. Make the implicit explicit. Say the quiet part loud. dklineii [type:: tweet]
Brian Armstrong shares the Y Combinator advice that helped Coinbase find product/market fit

“The first version of a product you put out doesn’t work. In fact, that’s the only thing I’ve ever seen happen in startups. I’ve never seen a startup where the first version of their product actually worked. Sometimes in hindsight people like to tell that story, but I think in reality it’s very rare.”

The first version of Coinbase was a hosted Bitcoin wallet. Brian posted it to Reddit and a few people signed up but nobody stuck around. Rather than get discouraged though, he recalled the advice he got at Y Combinator:

“Don’t spend your time going to conferences and trying to raise money. If you don’t have product/market fit yet, talk to your customers and improve the product based on their feedback… There’s really only two things you should be doing in the early stage - talking to your customers and improving the product. It sounds like simple advice, but people spend so much time doing other stuff that’s not actually real work.”

Following that advice, Brian emailed 10 of the people who had signed up for Coinbase and asked if they’d be open to a quick phone call.

One of the users liked the wallet but didn’t have any Bitcoin.

Brian asked him: “If there was an easy way to get Bitcoin into your wallet - like a buy button or something - would you have stuck around and used it?”

“Yeah, probably” replied the user.

So Brian spent the next few months securing bank partnerships and money transmission licenses so he could build a simple buy button into the app. Then he launched it.

“The minute we launched that buy button, it started to grow every day organically with no marketing or anything. And that was the minute I felt like we finally had product/market fit.”

Video source: @StevenBartlett (2022) StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
If you’re selling to CEOs, talk revenue.

If you’re selling to managers, talk productivity.

If you’re selling to employees, talk ease.

People buy what makes their job easier. Dwriteway [type:: tweet]
Your brain doesn't care about your intentions.

It cares about your repetitions.

Repetition shapes your reality. https://t.co/tOvE3OqyMz NTFabiano [type:: tweet]
As I always tell my team: “Prioritization isn’t real until it hurts.” Kpaxs [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs on the most important job of a CEO

“The greatest people are self-managing. They don’t need to be managed. Once they know what to do, they’ll go figure out how to do it… What they need is a common vision, and that’s what leadership is. Leadership is having a vision, being able to articulate that so the people around you can understand it, and getting consensus on a common vision.”

Steve continues:

“We wanted people who were insanely great at what they did… and the neatest thing that happens when you get a core group ten great people is that it becomes self-policing as to who they let into that group. So I consider the most important job of someone like myself is recruiting.” StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
“Action produces information. Just keep doing stuff.” — Brian Armstrong https://t.co/yGksQ2qhMt readswithravi [type:: tweet]
John Collison adds three more parts to Elon’s management playbook:
1. Pick single most import target metric for business at a time (eg. SpaceX = $ per kilo to orbit)
2. Constantly create urgency (which often shortens time horizons for projects)
3. Focus on capital efficiency https://t.co/e1lN2fC6A0 pnegahdar [type:: tweet]
You're working endless hours and still falling behind.

The problem isn't effort. It's leverage.

8 playbooks to achieve more while doing less: dklineii [type:: tweet]
Should you delay this decision until you have more data?

Only if:
1. You can get more data 𝘢𝘯𝘥
2. Analysis will be accurate 𝘢𝘯𝘥
3. It will change the decision 𝘢𝘯𝘥
4. It will correctly predict the future. asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Writing forces clarity. For frameworks, my process is:
1. Have idea
2. Write it clearly
3. If it still makes sense, try it inside the company
4. If it works, tweak, then publish
Many frameworks--like the Talk-Walk methodology listed below--began this way.

https://t.co/PKwfRujYi2 asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Naval Ravikant on the importance of hiring high-agency people

Naval defines agency as:

“People who just solve problems without even being asked to solve the problem—they identify the problem, they go solve it, they don’t even necessarily have to update you every step of the way, they’re not asking silly questions, and they’re just coming up with solutions.”

He believes this is important because “building a startup is an infinite set of problems that are being thrown at you.” And there comes a day where you can’t even look at every problem your company is facing—let alone solve every one of them.

He cites the Vinod Khosla aphorism:

"The team you build is the company you build, not the plan you make.”

And your ability to solve problems is based entirely on how many problem-solvers you have at your company. As Naval puts it:

“If you have somebody who takes 10% of your time and management to solve problems, you can only have 10 of those people working with you. But if somebody takes 5%, you can have 20 of those people.”

When building Airchat and AngelList, he thought of each team as a Navy Seal team:

“Everyone is just really good at what they do. They know their job. They do it. They don’t complain. They’re not egotistical about it. And if they have to constantly be corrected, led around by the nose, you have to clean up after them, or you question their judgement, it’s not going to work out.”

Video source: @AngelList (2023) StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
The brutal career truth: Working harder has a limit. Leverage doesn't. The top 1% use tools, people, code or their community to disconnect their time from their results. Each hour can create exponential outcomes. Improve your judgment, not your effort. dklineii [type:: tweet]
We grew to $1B ARR faster than Stripe, Salesforce, and Palantir, while being 100% remote

This was a combination of a lot of luck, focus and an excellent team

Looking back, I can our team's success boils down some key principles I'm sharing in a 700-word long post:

I hope that it will help every startup as much as it helped us:
1. Everything is sales.
  Recruiting is sales. Fundraising is sales. Retaining your best talent is sales. Dating is sales. And sales is sales.
  A founder’s effectiveness = (technical skill × ability to sell).
2. You need to be in the details.
The best founders can zoom all the way in and out. If someone tells you to “scale yourself” by pulling back too early - they’re wrong.

Being in the details is important to understand what org structure best fits your company's goals. Every 'in the weeds' founder designs their org structure from first principles.

Jensen: 40 direct reports,
Elon: Engineers in charge of everything,
Jobs: Creative Dictatorship with Directly Responsible Individuals.
Zuck: The first growth-hacking team with @chamath

Founders not in the details forget what makes their products great and eventually recede into designing a standard org with standard departments which lead to standard results.
1. Your company's fate is 70% sealed by the first 20 hires
Ben Horowitz: "I got this advice like 27 times. They said 'Look, here's the key: Hire A players:' and I was like ok yeah, my plan was to hire a bunch of morons but now I'm going to hire A players" The hard part isn’t intent, it’s judgment.

The problem is you can't spot a top 1% engineer if you're not a top 10% engineer yourself. This applies to everything.

Your definition of great is just what you've seen. Founders have some blind spots. Technical founders usually build bad marketing orgs. Sales-focused founders sometimes build mediocre product teams. You need the right eyes to be able to spot genius. Ego aside, bring on a technical expert and have them vet talent for you. Your first hires are your culture, your standard, your work environment. They are the company. Get the first 20 hires right.
1. Live with your customers.
You can’t know what’s working if you’re not talking to them - all the time.
Be where they are: WhatsApp, calls, DMs, in person. The closer you are to customers, the fewer mistakes you make.

"The customer is the boss. They can fire everybody by choosing to spend their money elsewhere." - Sam Walton
1. Be extremely responsive.
  If I reply in 30 seconds, what usually takes a day gets done in hours.
  What takes hours gets done now.
  Speed compounds.
2. Your TAM is limited by your imagination, not by the market.
  Constantly rethink the pod, find other big issues that need solving and are valuable, and solve them exceptionally well. We went from contracts ($100M) to Employer of Record ($300M) to Payroll ($200M).
  Each 3x'd the TAM.
3. Never run out of cash.
  The only way a business dies is by running out of cash.
  Profitability = power. You call the shots, not investors.
  You can always act in the company's long-term interest because you know you are safe.
  We reached Series A after spending <10% of our seed.
  We have been profitable for the last 3 years.
Cash discipline buys freedom.
1. Over-index on angels early.
  Angels are your best shot at making important people care - when it matters. They might not be involved day to day, but when you really need help, they’ll show up. If you don't know how to solve a problem, you should know at least a person who knows the person who can.
Pick the right ones, and time your asks well.
1. There's always something out there that can kill your company.
  Your job is to de-risk the company. Capital, talent, and products are all a small part of a larger effort to de-risk your startup and build an enduring business. Covid-induced work from home grew our payroll and EOR business. And it seemed like RTO might kill it. But we were prepared. If you worry, you won't have to worry.
2. Stay focused.
  Fundraises, competitors, headlines - all noise.
  Focus on your customers. Focus on your product. Keep executing.
  In the long run, the most relentless team wins.
3. Trust your instinct.
  If something feels off - it probably is. Dig deeper.
  Courage in your convictions matters, especially as the team grows.
  Don’t let “performative democracy” slow you down.
As long as you’re in the seat, lead decisively - and unapologetically. Bouazizalex [type:: tweet]
Sam Altman literally dropped why focus decides who wins https://t.co/Ogk5MhPphK neatprompts [type:: tweet]
“Instead of pursuing many-sided mediocrity and calling it 'well-roundedness,' a definite person determines the one best thing to do and then does it.”
- Peter Thiel https://t.co/DrP40LMLgp BenWilsonTweets [type:: tweet]
The key to having more time is doing less, and there are two paths to getting there, both of which should be used together:

(1) Define a to-do list and (2) define a not-to-do list.
In general terms, there are but two questions:

What 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?

What 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcome and happiness?

The goal is to find your inefficiencies in order to eliminate them and to find your strengths so you can multiply them. tferriss [type:: tweet]
Jony Ive is a design legend.

These are his rules for designing products that people love: https://t.co/MLWJnd5lEJ felixleezd [type:: tweet]
BRAINDUMP ON VIRAL LOOPS #2
(posted recently about the science of viral loops from the Web 2.0 days -- see replies for the first post)

You'll often notice that very viral products tend to fall into one of two buckets:

Category 1:
very simple apps that do one thing, and that one thing is highly shareable or pushes out a lot of invites. Overnight successes. (think gen AI creative tools, but also Instagram/YouTube back in the day)

Category 2:
highly sticky products with deep functionality, and some sharing capability -- tends to grow slowly, but consistently. (think Figma, Slack, early Facebook, etc)

These two types of loops are very different.

Apps in category 1 have tight, simple viral loops with high conversions at every step, so that there's almost nothing to do in the app other than creating viral content. The successful version of this is something like Instagram in its initial form with photo filters and sharing to Facebook, and not much else. The spammy bad version of this includes the litany of quiz apps and anonymous/secret apps that failed over the years. However, they have a huge advantage of being easy to create, and often in the early days of a viral platform, these are often the most successful ones.

The second category of apps ends up being complex products to build with high retention and a little bit of sharing functionality. The plus with these is that every time they acquire a user, they're very sticky, and so, if you put the sharing functionality in front of users over a long period of time, eventually the viral factor will add up. However the growth doesn't look quite as explosive as category one.

This type of loop is interesting to examine in the current era of AI apps because they days have viral loops very similar to Instagram, YouTube -- category 1. They have some of the same strengths (simple, high growth) but also some of the same weaknesses (spiky, low aggregate user retention). Maybe this is history repeating itself?

Viral content creation loops, step by step
These types of simple content creation loops work like this:
- you see something cool online
- then you watch
- click a link back to the creation tool
- then you try out the tool yourself. Cool!
- you share it on social media (or chat or whatever)
- more people see it
  ... and the loop repeats
I'm describing this very generically because you can imagine this being a video hosting service like YouTube, or it could be a cool photo with photo filters, or it could be an anime-style profile photo, or an AI-generated video with your friend's face in it. In any of these cases, ultimately that takes advantage of the psychology of being creative. That is, after you create something, you want to share it with other people.

This type of loop is easy to understand, but it's not just qualitative. You can quantify it too. Just break down each of the steps into percentages. For example, after someone views a video, there will be a clickthrough rate on the percentage of people end up clicking to your website. Then, after they go through the website, you'll see what percentage end up creating content themselves. In fact, there are drop-offs at every single stage of this except for one stage: once you share it on social media or messaging, how many people end up actually seeing the whole thing. You might visualize the whole thing like this:
- you see something cool online
- then you watch (50%)
- click a link back to the creation tool (10%)
- then you try out the tool yourself. Cool! (20%)
- you share it (50%)
- more people see it (X people see it)
  ... and the loop repeats
The basic math on this viral loop is that if 50% * 50% * 20% * X > 1, then the loop will go viral. Of course this is hard because the first few terms together multiply to 0.005, so you'd need at least 200+ people to see it to go viral. But all of these numbers are highly sensitive.

When these loops work, they are magic. But funny enough, when a product is only slightly viral, you can barely tell. If you are attracting 100 users/day based on organic word of mouth, and you have a viral factor of 0.1, then the multiplier effect is only 1.11x. So your 100 users end up inviting 10 friends who invite 1 more, so that's only a small bump. Can you really tell a small bump like that if your organic signups go up and down 10% each day as well? Not really. You really need high viral factors, like >0.5 to feel the difference. At 0.5, then 100 users will sign up 50 that will sign up 25, and so on, and that gets you a 2x boost. Now we're cooking! This ends up being valuable because it means whatever you are spending on ads, you get 1 user free for each one that you buy. So even if you're not viral, it's helpful.

You can see what the multiplier effect is at different viral factors:
- viral factor of 0.1 is a multiplier of 1.11x
- 0.25: 1.33x
- 0.5: 2x
- 0.75: 4x
- 0.9: 10x
For the nerds, the math here is that the infinite expansion of gen 1 inviting gen 2 inviting gen 3 etc is 1/(1-v) where v is the viral factor. So if you stick 0.5 into that, you get 2x, which tells you that if you sign up 100 users with a viral factor of 0.5, you'll end up with 200 total at the end -- aka 100 are free viral users.

As a result of the above, you are very much incentivized to get your viral factor above 0.5. Everything underneath that number almost isn't worth it. Thus, building your app to be highly shareable, very simple, such that there's almost nothing to do besides creating+sharing, is a clear way to go about it.

And it can be glorious when it works. But we've seen that there's often spikes. One day it's trending on social, the next day your traffic has crashed. (Let's hope you pushed enough people through a subscription flow in the meantime, so that at least your ARR is sticky!)

Why the numbers go down over time
The natural direction for these forms of viral loops is that they degrade in performance over time. There's a bunch of reasons:
- novelty effect creates higher metrics early, worse metrics late
- market saturation is inevitable
- virality runs on pre-existing platforms, and the platforms might get mad
There's just a novelty effect. When there's a new class of products like content creation tools with generative AI, users tend to respond to them at very high rates of adoption. A higher percentage want to watch them, a higher percentage want to try them more. And when they're shared, a higher number of people want or are receptive to seeing the content. We saw this in the early days of 2D image generative AI where people would share amazing AI photos (even when people had six fingers). But when was the last time you shared a 2D image generated by AI? The novelty is worn off, and so you need a much higher bar before you'll engage in that same behavior. (I won't rehash The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs here, but it's all the same idea)

And of course, as the viral loop becomes more successful, it may burn through the entire market of target users and the saturation rates will put pressure on all of these metrics again decreasing viral factor. At the beginning of a loop's life, the entire market is addressable, so if you are inviting 10 people into the app all 10 are valid targets. But if you've saturated your network, maybe out of the top 10 people you'd invite, 5 people have already joined, so that only the 5 are valid, which drives down your viral factor by half. And these final users tend to be lower quality as well, since they are late adopters. Back in the email invite loop days, you would find that if people imported their email addressbooks, you might initially get ~200 contacts out of it. If you emailed them, you might have like a 10-15% open rate, and a 5% clickthrough rate. But as your product grew to many tens of millions of users, then peoples' contacts typically got smaller -- eventually 150 then 100 -- simply because you were reaching into the edges of the global social graph. Popular, well-connected people tended to be onboarded first and then by the end you were bringing on the introverts, late adopters, and luddites :) Not only are they less viral, but their usage/engagement tended to be that much worse.

Every viral loop runs on a pre-existing platform. Email invites run on email. Instagram's early sharing ran on the Facebook platform. Today's generative AI video apps publish content to YouTube/Tiktok/social. So if it turns out that people are sharing a lot of these kinds of videos with certain watermarks and link backs to the creation tool, and eventually the video platform that you're publishing on doesn't like this, one of these conversion numbers might drop really, really low. And then your viral factor might go from being over 1 to being under 1, and the whole thing will decelerate. The platforms often regulate this behavior tightly because they are themselves sometimes building competitive solutions, or they don't want their platform taken over. (Just read about Zynga/Facebook platform wars back during the Web 2.0 days)

The weaknesses of hypersimple apps
Even given these factors, the hypersimple hyperviral Category 1 products can win. I think of YouTube and Instagram as examples, where at the end of the day the entire app can be described with 3-4 screens of UI. Of course in subsequent years a lot has been built out, but the simple core is still there. It turns out the minimum product to generate a ton of retention is just a few bits of UI after all, and the network effects of having zillions of pieces of content means that a small app with a deep content base can remain endlessly engaging. This is sort of the magic of networked products like messaging apps, UGC, social networks, and so on.

However, after seeing lots of spiky new apps launching and crashing over time, I'd argue that this is actually the exception. Most of the time, highly simplified apps just don't have the depth of engagement to drive retention over a long period of time. People often talk about D30 retention, but what they really care about is D365 retention. You need very long term engagement to build a billion dollar company, and simple apps usually don't have it.

--
ok -- will braindump on the category 2 highly retentive more complex apps in my next post :) Much more to say. andrewchen [type:: tweet]
Early feedback is usually better than late criticism.

Delaying the conversation or stringing someone along with indirect feedback won't make them feel better once the real issue is finally addressed.

Nobody likes being turned down, but everyone appreciates clarity. JamesClear [type:: tweet]
Andrej Karpathy’s 3 learning rules explain why he’s built half the future https://t.co/TWK4CdJqSj neatprompts [type:: tweet]
Often we say: “Get more done, in less time.”

Think instead about how to: “Get only the important things done, in this time."

Starting with: What are the most important things? Are you sure? asmartbear [type:: tweet]
Steve Blank explains the Lean Startup methodology

Steve Blank helped pioneer the Lean Startup Methodology. In the clip below, he explains that over the course of building eight companies, no business plan survived first contact with customers:

“Startups are not smaller versions of large companies. Large companies execute known business models. Startups search for unknown business models… And the mistake we were making as entrepreneurs was assuming that everything we wrote in [a business plan] somehow magically translated into facts, when all we had were a series of untested hypotheses.”

As Steve explains, the key for startups is to focus on risk reduction in the early stages by identifying your assumptions and treating them as hypotheses you need to test. The most common mistake very bright founders make is believing they understand the problem on day 1, and as a result, just going and building the solution. But Steve has learned from experience:

“As smart as you are, there is no way you’re smarter than the collective intelligence of your potential customers.”

To find product/market fit, you need to “get the heck outside”, talk to your customers, and test your hypotheses. Who are they? What are you building for them? What are their needs? What jobs do they want to get done? What are their pains? How are you going to make money?

“And by testing, I don’t just mean saying ‘here’s a product, do you want to buy it?’ That’s selling. I mean getting out and understanding deeply what are the customer problems, what are their needs, and what kind of solution might actually solve them?”

Alter your hypotheses with the insights from these conversations, and then test them again with your product. You want to build your product incrementally and iteratively—hence the term “Minimum Viable Product”—continually interacting with your customers to understand if you are on the right track.

Video source: @ECorner (2016) StartupArchive_ [type:: tweet]
Say something true, in an interesting way. naval [type:: tweet]
What movie caused you to have a "WTF did I just watch?" moment after viewing? TheCinesthetic [type:: tweet]
dear founders,

build like the clock’s running out. the window is open but it won’t stay. for the first time in history, you have free distribution from social platforms and infinite leverage from AI tools. you can reach millions without permission.

the internet is handing out unfair advantages to anyone bold enough to use them so...

ship before you understand it. clarity comes from commits. half your roadmap is ego, delete it. launch "ugly". talk to users every day. build what you wish existed. best ideas are the most obvious painful. go niche. no, go superniche. vertical is your moat.

clarity comes from commits. half your roadmap might be ego, delete it. make ugly things until they work. share prototypes that break.

kill what doesn’t grow. use AI as leverage, not decoration. test ten things before breakfast. delete your roadmap. double down on what works. design for clarity, not cleverness. brand before code. write daily. post your lessons.

find your first hundred users manually. distribution is the new product. attention is the new funding. taste is the new code. build small cults. scale later. automate boring things. keep the human parts human. study why things spread. study why things die.

pricing is positioning. aesthetics are trust. make people feel something. ignore haters. build in weird corners of the internet. break things publicly. pivot loudly. consistency compounds. only raise VC if you dream of going IPO one day. otherwise, cash-flow is your BFF.

your network is distribution. your story is marketing. your design is psychology. ship like it’s day one. iterate like you’re behind. stay obsessed. learn faster. think longer. risk embarrassment. make noise. build the thing that keeps you up at night. money follows obsession. stay in motion. stay loud. stay building. distribution is an art form now.

AI makes it easy to make things; the hard part is making things that matter. build like the world’s ending in a year but your idea has to outlive it

we’re living in a window of maximum leverage and minimum permission

im rooting for you.

best,

greg isenberg

just another founder rooting for you gregisenberg [type:: tweet]
Vercel CEO @rauchg shared how to build a $9.3B company from 0. https://t.co/E7fzGInTXy Thomas_jebarsan [type:: tweet]
"By the way, what have you done that's so great? Do you create anything, or just criticize others work and belittle their motivations?"
- Steve Jobs on a Critic https://t.co/PwyxECfPFg BenWilsonTweets [type:: tweet]
pov: you're selling to the wrong audience

don't do this

also don't listen to people who prefer complexity over simplicity

they are almost always wrong https://t.co/S6hncNLXcj weswinder [type:: tweet]
@TheCinesthetic This man's fate in A House of Dynamite was shocking to me. I audibly gasped. https://t.co/7LHyAkfMkj goodthink1984 [type:: tweet]
I do an exercise called “fear-setting” at least once a quarter, often once a month. It has produced my biggest business and personal successes, as well as repeatedly helped me to avoid catastrophic mistakes. tferriss [type:: tweet]
@tferriss TLDR of fear setting:
1. Define the nightmare
2. List how to prevent it
3. Plan how to repair it
4. List the likely upside
5. Price the cost of inaction
Decide and take one step this week TomHughesx [type:: tweet]
Everyone’s wrong about what a CEO actually does

It’s not product. It’s not marketing. It’s not vision boards

It’s just 5 things:

• Hire/Fire (80% of the job)
• Pick one direction, say no to everything else
• Build systems so you’re not needed
• Keep stretching your psychology
• Don’t run out of money (most imp)

Miss one = game over aymanalabdul [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/ODG9bbhvfQ leantolearn [type:: tweet]
Notice how many of them are about speed (of team and of product). asmartbear [type:: tweet]
THE best onboarding you will ever experience

11/10 https://t.co/6O6BpBulHe dudufolio [type:: tweet]
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being. QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
The modern mental illness is anxiety.

The symptom is inability to fall asleep.

The evidence is pills, meditation apps, opioids, and sleep trackers.

The causes are oversocialization and overstimulation.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
When guys with smartphones and money in the bank tell me how hard their life is

I show them this https://t.co/0jtc1gPhYf LifeMathMoney [type:: tweet]
You won’t have inner peace until you give up your war against the world.

@naval NavalismHQ [type:: tweet]
Ben Horowitz literally explains how he differentiates between mediocre CEOs & great CEOs. https://t.co/LPnf7TTXnv yasminekho [type:: tweet]
Friedrich Nietzsche warns you, saying:

"Do not fall victim to excessive idealism and believe that telling the truth will bring you closer to people. People love and reward those who can soothe them with illusions. Since ancient times, humanity has only punished those who speak the truth. If you want to stay among people, share their illusions. The truth is spoken only by those who are ready to depart."

Good night Pergament_F [type:: tweet]
This guy dropped the coldest life advice https://t.co/fXO7y68ZaQ aakashg0 [type:: tweet]
Carl Jung Said; https://t.co/WPL3Q92VKN Lovandfear [type:: tweet]
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." – George Bernard Shaw https://t.co/Pbwhjdby7L visualizevalue [type:: tweet]
For years @patrickc + @collision told me "You should add @link, it'll increase your conversion rate"

I always figured Link was only useful for consumer-y impulse buys, not Serious Business Stuff™️

But...TL;DR: we added @link and it increased our conversion rate. Lesson learned destraynor [type:: tweet]
Find the simplest thing that works. https://t.co/im3uFKTB4N naval [type:: tweet]
@peterrhague Often problems are an excuse to talk, interact and connect. https://t.co/gY8qQVeVKM TinkeredThinker [type:: tweet]
Steve Jobs literally explains why most people never succeed in life https://t.co/qK72ZdRXBA neatprompts [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/HBpbh3B0fY SucceededMind [type:: tweet]
One of my favorite lessons I’ve learnt from working with smart people:

Action produces information. If you’re unsure of what to do, just do anything, even if it’s the wrong thing. This will give you information about what you should actually be doing.

Sounds simple on the surface - the hard part is making it part of your every day working process. brian_armstrong [type:: tweet]
This is how you hire an org of superstars. People first, roles/process second.

There are many ways to put the puzzle together, but you want to prioritize top talent above all. It’s easier to deal with the chaos of non-standardized processes than it is to find & convince top talent.
- From @zebriez’s excellent Colossus piece, “Inside Cursor” eriktorenberg [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/qxnG8vVPA5 MindWisdomMoney [type:: tweet]
talk again after $100 MRR https://t.co/xuwuuQNe6C muratworks [type:: tweet]
The most frustrating and lonely thing in the world is to be able to see something so clearly and beautifully in your mind, but somehow fail to get other people to see what you see. joulee [type:: tweet]
Underrated signs of a high performer:

• They hate small talk.
• Are not okay with wasting your time.
• Do what they say they’re going to do.
• Do it with urgency.
• Are obsessed, not just interested.

What am I missing? https://t.co/l2z4USlFOy Codie_Sanchez [type:: tweet]
Rare footage of Jordan Belfort, the real Wolf of Wallstreet closing a deal live https://t.co/z3Vn7VnPHU historyinmemes [type:: tweet]
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." - Carl Jung

Quick question: What quality in others triggers your strongest judgment? QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
It wasn’t genes.

It wasn’t money.

It wasn’t even habits.

The single biggest predictor?

Relationships. DanielPink [type:: tweet]
Based on everything I’ve seen, a simple recipe can work: focus on what’s in front of you, design great days to create a great life, and try not to make the same mistake twice. That’s it. If you really want extra credit, try not to be a dick, and you’ll be a Voltron-level superstar.

The secret to winning any game lies in not trying too hard.

Feeling as though you are trying too hard indicates that your priorities, technique, focus, or mindfulness is off. Take it as a cue to reset, not to double down. And take comfort in the fact that, whenever in doubt, the answer is probably hidden in plain sight.

What would this look like if it were easy?

In a world where nobody really knows anything, you have the incredible freedom to continually reinvent yourself and forge new paths, no matter how strange.

Embrace your weird self.

There is no one right answer . . . only better questions. tferriss [type:: tweet]
just so we're clear:

Antigravity is a Windsurf wrapper

Windsurf is a VSCode wrapper

VSCode is an Electron wrapper

Electron is a Chromium wrapper

Chromium is a C++ wrapper

C++ is a C wrapper

C is an Assembly wrapper

Assembly is a Machine Code wrapper

Machine Code is a Binary wrapper

Binary is a Physics wrapper

Physics is a Math wrapper

Math is a Logic wrapper

Logic is a Philosophy wrapper

Philosophy is a Humans wrapper

Humans are a Carbon wrapper

Carbon is a Star-forged-matter wrapper

Stars are a Gravity wrapper

Gravity is… definitely not an Antigravity wrapper aidenybai [type:: tweet]
There's a blandness to contemporary architecture. Sure, it can be sleek and impressive, but so much of it is ultimately boring.

Whenever I bring this up, people default to the same defense: “Well, interesting architecture is expensive.” But that argument breaks down when you watch shows like Selling Sunset, where even $40 million homes are covered with the same white walls, right angles, marble islands, grey-scale colors, and a lack of cornices or any ornamentation whatsoever.

All this to say that the lack of character in contemporary design isn't ultimately a cost problem. If it were, the world's wealthiest people wouldn't end up in interchangeable white boxes.

Many people prefer this dominant style. And that's fine! My problem isn't with the style itself, but with the fact that it's increasingly the only option available. A thriving civilization should have an expansion of offerings, not a contraction of them. But the market has converged on a single aesthetic.

Just recently, a New York real estate agent said to me: "If you want an apartment with character, you're going to have to look for one built before World War II."

"So you're saying that almost nothing built in the past 80 years has character?"

"Yep, yep... that's right." david_perell [type:: tweet]
https://t.co/c75s9UkKlU QuoteJung [type:: tweet]
Naval Ravikant revealed the trait that creates more success than intelligence ever could: https://t.co/k0Lzmy8EH5 yasminekho [type:: tweet]
Everyone needs to hear this… https://t.co/lewSGW4anJ SahilBloom [type:: tweet]
I can't believe Gemini 3.0 made this website

It's so over for designers & devs https://t.co/74eghyZnYj axeldesigns [type:: tweet]
A reminder from Marcus Aurelius: https://t.co/MvtE2GTSmA readswithravi [type:: tweet]
High agency is often mistaken for speed. People assume it belongs to the ones who decide quickly and move without hesitation.

That version looks impressive, but it is not what actually drives results. The real marker of high agency is quieter. It appears the moment someone stops protecting their assumptions and puts them in contact with something that can push back.

Most people hesitate because they operate too far from the facts that matter. They think through scenarios, build arguments, weigh options, and wait for a feeling of certainty. They want clarity before they act. They want proof without the discomfort of exposing their thinking. They want to be right before the world has a chance to disagree.

High-agency people do something different. They shorten the time between an idea and its first collision with the real world. They build the smallest version that can reveal a truth. They ask the customer before polishing the story. They test behavior before optimizing the process. They trade speculation for evidence, not because they enjoy being wrong, but because every collision with reality sharpens their understanding of what actually works.

That shift changes their relationship with learning. Mistakes are not signs of incompetence. They are the natural cost of moving forward. The most valuable insights rarely come from perfect planning. They come from constraints, surprising reactions, unexpected metric shifts, and outcomes no one predicted.

This behavior compounds. Every early interaction with reality creates a faster cycle of adjustment. Every adjustment increases clarity. Over time, decisions feel fast because dozens of small signals have already done the work. To an outsider it looks like intuition. In practice, it is earned through repeated exposure to the world.

High agency is trained. It builds through the choices you make when uncertainty shows up. It strengthens every time you expose your thinking to something that can reshape it.

Speed shows up because the environment favors teams that gather evidence quickly and adjust without ceremony. Their focus is on contact with reality. They waste less time debating ideas that have not been tested. They look for the next piece of information that moves the work forward.

Founders who operate this way avoid the trap of endless planning. Product managers avoid the trap of presenting polished ideas that have never touched a user’s world. Engineers avoid the trap of optimizing solutions before validating the problem. Teams shaped by this habit reduce the distance between ideas and truth.

You take an idea, remove the parts that do not matter, and place the remaining piece somewhere it can be disproven. You let the result inform the next version. You let the world reveal the gap between what you believe and what is true.

The discomfort never disappears. It becomes familiar. You learn to recognize the moment when you are delaying the collision because the idea feels fragile. That moment is the signal. High-agency people move toward it. Everyone else moves away.

If you want to raise the agency level of a team, focus on faster confrontations with reality. Encourage smaller tests. Encourage questions that can be answered in days instead of weeks. Encourage conversations with customers before the work becomes precious. Encourage an environment where truth carries more weight than confidence.

You become high agency by removing the distance between what you believe and what the world is willing to teach you. hnshah [type:: tweet]
These guys managed to land a $1.25B valuation with 100 employees.

This is the story of Linear: https://t.co/EzFVwHNXlX aakashg0 [type:: tweet]
The real moats in 2025: specific workflows, proprietary data with real switching costs, distribution, and UX that makes AI disappear into the job-to-be-done.

Simultaneously: we are early (only a % are using AI properly) so this is an amazing time to start a startup. garrytan [type:: tweet]
Nano Banana Pro is just batshit insane.. simply speechless.

My latest essay converted into a professors lecture in one shot 📸 https://t.co/d2GfAAsmrt nikunj [type:: tweet]
"Here's what our product can do" and "Here's what you can do with our product" sound similar, but they are completely different approaches. jasonfried [type:: tweet]
CEO of @TimeCamp spent 10 hours to support customers in the last 30 days. Here's why he loves doing it http://t.co/XeBD5hDzAk #CEOonSupport freshdesk [type:: tweet]
Mam nowy film na playliście w @YouTube: Pierwszy krok startupu – http://t.co/HaPlgpPjsO LukaszSolarski [type:: tweet]
Ah I can't wait!✈️😍 michalikmonika [type:: tweet]
"The smarter you get the less you speak" - Arabic Proverb ludwikcsiadlak [type:: tweet]
Last week I spoke at TEDx!:) Thx to @jaltucher ideas I spoke about not having home also. marcinosman [type:: tweet]
"Your time is much more valuable than money, and “no” [creates] time." -James Altucher. Continued at #18 here: https://t.co/u3bNp7bCKZ tferriss [type:: tweet]
@SamuelHulick @bokardo @appcues guys timecamp has "quicbooks, ____, "QuickBooks, ..." marshsutherland [type:: tweet]
@krudnicki you've been invited Kamil, if you like #startup, feel free to share http://t.co/2QTnzM9unX (: http://t.co/EMHo2vLX4b LeonPals [type:: tweet]
VC pitch tip #72: if VC is ex-founder, always pretend that you've heard of their product. Always. http://t.co/AFXnsbInou jasonlk [type:: tweet]
3 #tips for #promoting your #flipbook https://t.co/vooNOS72LG with @brand24 by @AndreiTiburca via @flipsnack gloria_zk [type:: tweet]
TimeCamp waits for your #reviews on @Financesonline! Feel free to share your voice: https://t.co/W7XQMV17Az #Tools https://t.co/Frb5Ifdon0 timecamp [type:: tweet]
Thanks @dbiweb for mentioning us in 9 Apps to Improve #Productivity for #SmallBusiness Owners! https://t.co/sIuUuqgCc2 timecamp [type:: tweet]
Make time tracking just happen with @TimeCamp and Zapier https://t.co/Ble6z9RqNW https://t.co/8RFxze8nR3 zapier [type:: tweet]
Log Every Minute Spent On Projects With TimeCamp via @Zapier https://t.co/NEyn1JRmLo #Automation #ProjectManagement #GrowthHacking timecamp [type:: tweet]
Track time for @CapsuleCRM items with TimeCamp via @Zapier! https://t.co/GFL4Smg5Hu #SaaS #GrowthHacking timecamp [type:: tweet]
@activecollab and @timecamp collaboration using #timetracking https://t.co/PS8ncUXAxT klewer8 [type:: tweet]
Top 10 Time Tracking Software for Linux https://t.co/BGYMcI3wWK doesn't list the one we use at work... #gnu #linux #freesw schestowitz [type:: tweet]
We're hiring! Check what TimeCamp can offer you: https://t.co/IjRYalS9Wl #Job #Career #Teamwork timecamp [type:: tweet]
RT @timecamp: Track time for @CapsuleCRM items with TimeCamp via @Zapier! https://t.co/VEXCit2cFP #SaaS #GrowthHacking plime42 [type:: tweet]
Time Tracking Matters: Integrate MeisterTask and @TimeCamp via #Zapier! https://t.co/Hp5rqKnrFF #Zap #Productivity https://t.co/MNX4Cd69AT meistertask [type:: tweet]
8 Remarkably Awesome #Tips on How to Become a Highly Productive Night Owl https://t.co/R0g1yLJzki #Lifestyle #Motivation timecamp [type:: tweet]
⚡⚡⚡ Brand24 FEATURE UPDATE: Number of Site Visits ⚡⚡⚡ https://t.co/B5sabbZLOh https://t.co/JMWGou67aI brand24 [type:: tweet]
One, Two, Three…Wait, what? 123 Top #Influencers in the #ProjectManagement Industry in 2016! https://t.co/Mh0rgUvjAH #tbt timecamp [type:: tweet]
How Can #TimeTracking Software Save Your Time? https://t.co/j5mRuGr0s1 #Productivity #Tips #Tools timecamp [type:: tweet]
Busy #entrepreneur? Check tips shared by our CEO @krudnicki and other #Productivity experts on @Shopify! https://t.co/sIXlqwc25K #management timecamp [type:: tweet]
Employee #Management System – Expectations vs Reality! https://t.co/HeNR8a8ppZ #Business #TeamManagement timecamp [type:: tweet]
How to Promote Your Shop Online? Follow These 5 Essential #Tips! https://t.co/8jHhRFXU9V #Ecommerce #OnlineShopping #Marketing timecamp [type:: tweet]
⏩ A Few Simple Tips On How To Increase Your #YouTube Popularity ⏩ https://t.co/5nIebVrAZw #SocialMedia #Marketing timecamp [type:: tweet]
How Can A Company #Benefit From Using TimeCamp? https://t.co/ylwEIoqurk #TimeTracking #Business #GrowthHacking timecamp [type:: tweet]
⚡⚡ The List of Top 20 #ProjectManagement Software ⚡⚡ Find your perfect one! https://t.co/6jXtwwxMOV #Business #Tools #PMP timecamp [type:: tweet]
Powerful #Tips and #Tools to Manage Time on #SocialMedia 👍 https://t.co/IWDSRAmhy3 #Management #Business timecamp [type:: tweet]
Powerful Tips and Tools to Manage Time on #SocialMedia https://t.co/IWDSRAmhy3 @buffer @smhackapp @TweetDeck @canva @piktochart @BuzzSumo timecamp [type:: tweet]
Do You Hate Filling Out the Invoices? Start Doing it With Joy Using the Right #Software! https://t.co/3nST2Z1UO9 #Invoicing #Accounting #Biz timecamp [type:: tweet]
Do you find managing your time as a #freelancer a struggle? @timecamp blog has all the #lifehacks you'll ever need https://t.co/zc5s7EeZx0 https://t.co/pVdbeZs9Xy briefyHQ [type:: tweet]
How Can We Cope with the Negative Opinions about our Company in #SocialMedia? Guest Post by our CMO, @Klewer8! https://t.co/Ne7kUU7Lfw timecamp [type:: tweet]
Great #business #workshop by @CramdenTECH where TimeCamp is included - develop your digital skills with best #tools! https://t.co/azkueoeBmh timecamp [type:: tweet]
⚡ Check what's offering TimeCamp and @SlackHQ integration! ⚡ https://t.co/oLII3QBHvr #Tools #Business #PM timecamp [type:: tweet]
Stay #Healthy – Take care of your mind and body at the office! https://t.co/iP2maEA2Eo #Fit #Lifestyle #MondayMotivation timecamp [type:: tweet]
Integrate your @GitLab with TimeCamp for Time Tracking https://t.co/XcpDP1Dl1P #Software #Tools #Code #Development timecamp [type:: tweet]
Choose a #ProjectManagement Methodology for You! 📚 https://t.co/Or5nXrj8RA #PMP #Agile #Scrum timecamp [type:: tweet]
Take part in our unique #survey about #creative agencies practices! ✍ #Marketing #Business #GrowthHacking https://t.co/15hlIspSpe https://t.co/MpSVuOuU7O timecamp [type:: tweet]
The Role of #Hashtags in Categorization of Information #CaseStudy #Marketing https://t.co/xRyAd4G1PK timecamp [type:: tweet]
A Simple Approach to Your #ContentMarketing Strategy ✍ #SEO #GrowthHacking https://t.co/zliM8N31Ca timecamp [type:: tweet]
Excellent #ContentMarketing Campaigns – They Do It Well! #SocialMedia @SamsungMobile @Redbull https://t.co/rFOCXNdUao timecamp [type:: tweet]
10 #Infographics to Skyrocket Your #Productivity in 2017! #NewYearResolution https://t.co/xnjC535yyu timecamp [type:: tweet]
10 Must-Watch @TEDTalks for Project Managers #ProjectManagement #Motivation #Music https://t.co/3FhVPDQiKL timecamp [type:: tweet]
Introducing New #Tool: Free Twitter #Followers to Upgrade Your Account! https://t.co/cFvq9TaaUk timecamp [type:: tweet]
⚡ATTENTION⚡Join FREE #Webinar: #TimeManagement 101 hosted by our CEO @krudnicki! Waiting for you on 4th February! https://t.co/b31cHvOGI8 timecamp [type:: tweet]
⚡ATTENTION⚡Join FREE #Webinar: #TimeManagement 101 hosted by our CEO @krudnicki! Waiting for you on 4th February! https://t.co/b31cHvOGI8 timecamp [type:: tweet]
20 #Productivity Quotes to Get Super Motivated Right Now! 🔊 #Motivation #Experts #WednesdayWisdom https://t.co/8VG61SnuCI timecamp [type:: tweet]
Free #Time Management #Webinar? Only the one hosted by our CEO, @krudnicki! Join #tomorrow at 12! #Productivity https://t.co/b31cHvx5jy timecamp [type:: tweet]
Ep 264: How Introverts Can Maximize Productivity by Optimizing Communication — @krudnicki https://t.co/OgekabQvAx careerpatterns [type:: tweet]
6 Must-Have Free #Mobile Apps To Break Bad Habits! #Productivity https://t.co/9bPujU0par timecamp [type:: tweet]
The latest El Diario de Benet M. Marcos! https://t.co/kiNuA9FhBF Thanks to @pacocorma @rachelloumiller @krudnicki #marketing #socialmedia benetmaria [type:: tweet]
10 Great #Tips That Will Help You Become a Successful Manager! #Management #Selfimprovement https://t.co/OD94GY6GwY timecamp [type:: tweet]
Presenting: The Map of Time Trackers! #TimeTracking #World #Infographics https://t.co/G6bZtjYCTO timecamp [type:: tweet]
84 Marketing Experts Share their Best #Visual #Marketing Tips for #Branding! Find out what our CMO @klewer8 said! https://t.co/9lCpRt9XEq timecamp [type:: tweet]
An Ultimate Guide To #SEO for #SmallBusiness that Works Every Time! https://t.co/SH7v3JX4BI timecamp [type:: tweet]
The Magnificent 7 #TimeTracking Apps for #Android! https://t.co/uXNQvVqiHK timecamp [type:: tweet]
Make Your #Business Go Big With Those #ProjectManagement Apps! https://t.co/DQMC6pdJzq timecamp [type:: tweet]
How to Increase Your Employees’ Motivation? #MondayMotivation #Productivity #Work https://t.co/nr5xecWY7S timecamp [type:: tweet]
50+ Terrific Tools for Driving Business Growth in 2017! #Marketing #Management #Accounting #SocialMedia https://t.co/CW8HyTHPlF timecamp [type:: tweet]
Piece of advice I heard in high school I've never forgotten: "Successful people aren't smarter than you, they're just way more persistent." sama [type:: tweet]
10 Motivational #Songs To Boost Your Mood in the Morning! #ThursdayThoughts #Motivation #Music https://t.co/j5y3lSkTNn timecamp [type:: tweet]
TimeCamp as one of the top Sanity-Saving Apps for #Freelancers at @GetApp! https://t.co/hT25X7JOxb timecamp [type:: tweet]
What Is Your Approach To #TimeManagement? #TuesdayThoughts https://t.co/aL4nIi7ZLe timecamp [type:: tweet]
@krudnicki FYI, you've been added as a maker of TimeCamp 2.0 on @ProductHunt https://t.co/iYcdUeNL9M h/t @pidzuchna 🙌 ProductHuntHi [type:: tweet]
Hello @krudnicki. Congratulations on being on ProductHunt! See here https://t.co/akDpHmAkkl how you can get the most out of your Campaign! growthwidgets [type:: tweet]
Working Remotely? Avoid These 5 Common Time Management Mistakes! #RemoteWork #Management #Mistakes https://t.co/ILc92hTTUf timecamp [type:: tweet]
How Can Introverts Maximize #Productivity by Optimizing #Communication? @hellotechpros #podcast ep. with @krudnicki https://t.co/CiQxMS57fl timecamp [type:: tweet]
50 Amazing Free Stock #\Photo Websites That You Cannot Ignore! #StockPicks https://t.co/GXSsBzXVoc timecamp [type:: tweet]
5 Time Tracking #YouTube Videos To Maximize Your #Productivity Skills! #VideoMarketing https://t.co/2h1xIyx1RV timecamp [type:: tweet]
#Productivity Experts #Roundup: 11 Busy Authors Share Their #Marketing Tips! https://t.co/x1GeMmF88U timecamp [type:: tweet]
How To #Communicate in a #Startup Company? https://t.co/9Yup2KTUuv @JakeTTully @BobShoyhet @sallyannekane @TheScottResort @timecamp klewer8 [type:: tweet]
Where Can I Download #ProjectManagement #Software? https://t.co/yvfOV9Q1TG timecamp [type:: tweet]
What Is The Difference Between #SaaS and Hosted Software? #BidData #GrowthHacking https://t.co/f5Srub8QB8 timecamp [type:: tweet]
Get Your Budget Under Control with Time Tracking! #Business #Finance #Success https://t.co/LOcDht9GU4 timecamp [type:: tweet]
#WebsiteDesign #SEO and #Content writing services by @WebkadCEO https://t.co/mRcLxiTJJU timecamp [type:: tweet]
[#INFOGRAPHIC] The Top 5 Reasons To Start Tracking Time As A Project Manager / https://t.co/jh9JFnC3Uo timecamp [type:: tweet]
100 Best Tools For #Marketing Industry! #SEO #PM #Productivity @podio @FastTonyES @evernote @insightly @dropbox
https://t.co/3vnSy6JV3G timecamp [type:: tweet]
8 years of Ruby experience and this caught me. I'm shocked. https://t.co/qHAJUxdFnS janfilipowski [type:: tweet]
#Experts Who Help You Improve Your #Productivity! @regainyourtime @PeggyDuncan @nicolebandes @laurastack https://t.co/3BrRqeYftZ timecamp [type:: tweet]
Hear @timecamp's CEO Kamil Rudnicki @krudnicki on #1 episode of Stay On Top WIth Your Work #Podcast! #PodernFamily #Management
#WednesdayWisdom https://t.co/wEWZV5rFo2 stayontopofwork [type:: tweet]
Read our guest, @EngesethsBlog Stefan Engeseth's top tip for staying on top of your work! Listen to the episode https://t.co/kGIWgzserZ #Podcast #PodernFamily #iTunes #SoundCloud #PM https://t.co/hzivhFBTEF stayontopofwork [type:: tweet]
Hear dr Shailesh Thaker @shaileshthaker on #5 episode of Stay On Top WIth Your Work #Podcast! #PodernFamily #ProjectManagement #Entrepreneurship #Work https://t.co/LHyuuhrPnT stayontopofwork [type:: tweet]
Do you #work while traveling? Make sure to include these items in your bag! #TravelTuesday #Travel #remotework https://t.co/sSH5iuKvfq timecamp [type:: tweet]
#StayOnTopOfWork New Episode: Find out why a leader is like a conductor of the symphony with @Mark_Sanborn! #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #PodernFamily #Podcast https://t.co/HjYyUHQaGz stayontopofwork [type:: tweet]
Read our guest, Mark Sanborn's top tip for managing a team and staying on top of work! Listen to the episode https://t.co/YQLOa4xwOM #Podcast #PodernFamily #Leadership #iTunes #SoundCloud #PM @Mark_Sanborn https://t.co/t9o5SqjLPN stayontopofwork [type:: tweet]
Tracking hours worked across different projects, generating a summary report, and manage and report billable hours are just some of the reasons @timecamp is a popular choice for #freelancers https://t.co/Eshew0RNY6 https://t.co/UvdNhpYn6y GetApp [type:: tweet]
Did you know that respecting your #team is one of the best #tools? Listen to the new episode of @stayontopofwork Stay On Top Of Work #Podcast and find out what was @MargaretMeloni's way to becoming a professional project manager! 🔊🎙️https://t.co/LhfIK8azLk timecamp [type:: tweet]
“To disagree silently is disloyal.” - Reed Hastings, founder & CEO of @netflix #TED2018 #TEDTalks @TEDTalks simonsinek [type:: tweet]
1/ Random thoughts on why I’m excited about the Work Graph - the network/interactions btwn people working together. Many diff cos tackling - Slack, Asana, Github, Invision, Dropbox, etc. - but it's just starting. The winners will be as big as the ones built on the Social Graph andrewchen [type:: tweet]

quotes

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Perfectionists are imperfect with their time.

Done is bettter then perfect.

The faster you pulse the faster you move.

"We're even wrong about which mistakes we're making."
— Carl Winfeld

"Premature optimization is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming."
— Donald Knuth

Your title means nothing, what you've shipped means everything.

The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of a mistake.

Make something people want.

uratujcie mnie od rzeczy nieistotnych.
Save me from the inconsequential.
"Rescue me from the trivial."
"Deliver me from the insignificant."
"Liberate me from the unimportant."
"O Divine, in Your infinite grace, save me from the inconsequential. Guide my steps away from the trivial pursuits that cloud my path. Let Your wisdom illuminate the essence of what truly matters, steering me towards actions of lasting significance. In seeking Your presence, let me find the strength to discern and focus on the profound, leaving behind the fleeting distractions of the world. Amen."

"You can't look at the competition and say you're going to do it better. You have to look at the competition and say you're going to do it differently."
Steve Jobs

Zacznij dzień od priorytetu nr. 1 - dopiero wtedy gdy nie ma już w nim nic do zrobienia przejdź do priorytetu 2.

Uratujcie mnie od rzeczy nieistotnych.

Obudź się.

Good teams fail faster so they can succeed faster.

Boże, daj mi pogodę ducha, abym pogodził się z tym, czego nie mogę zmienić,
odwagę, abym zmieniał to, co zmienić mogę,
i mądrość, abym odróżniał jedno od drugiego.

Buddyjska Modlitwa o Akceptację
"Niech będę wolny od cierpienia,
niech będę szczęśliwy,
niech będę w pokoju,
niech akceptuję to, co jest.

📗 Growth Levers and How to Find Them

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Growth Levers and How to Find Them

Fast learning is the goal agile, szybkość, tempo
- Established companies - they already have good information. They already know who buys their products and why, where to find those people, what to say to them, how to onboard them, how much to charge, and a hundred other little details. They have a working customer acquisition system. They employ strategy, execution, hiring, and delegation to optimize their performance.
- But startups aren't ready to optimize. They still need to figure out the basics quickly. And while strategizing, executing, hiring, and delegating are great ways to optimize, they're inefficient ways to learn. When fast learning is the goal, you need a different process, a process of discovery.
- The imperative isn't to optimize well-known operations, but to discover those operations to create a new system, not run an existing system more efficiently.
- It's not yet possible to begin optimizing because you don't know what the right processes are. You're in a race to acquire and validate information about the system as quickly as possible. Your success dep A startup is not a small version of a large company. Steve Blank.
Discovery mode to find your big growth levers fast.
- To grow, startups need to operate in discovery mode. This means your entire organization needs to become an instrument of discovery. One that's designed to find your big growth levers fast. The rest of this chapter outlines a process for doing that.]
It's about 1000% improvements, not 1% product strategy big improvements
- Mówił też że nie chodzi o wile małych 1%, tylko duże. customer development
- You're in a race to acquire and validate information about the system as quickly as possible. Your success dep Google didn't beat Yahoo by being 1% better. The iPhone wasn't 1% better than the Nokia 6300. And Netflix wasn't 1% better than Blockbuster.
- These startups succeeded by finding an entirely new approach, not nudging along an existing one. Their desired outcome wasn't incremental, but binary. Optimization can't yield binary outcomes like this. Discovery demands a totally different kind of thinking.
- Instead of doing a hundred things one Try this thought experiment. Imagine you're right. Imagine the grand promises you made to your investors are true, and the opportunity is bigger than anyone realizes. A huge mass of people are desperate for your product if only they knew it existed.
Discovery
- What exactly do they hope to achieve? Three, social and emotional aspects. Why is this challenge so important to them? Even in B2B, most purchase decisions are based on emotions and social considerations.
- And somebody will need to figure out how to turn all that customer enthusiasm into a solid, predictable stream of revenue. Bottom line, your success depends on your ability to figure out lots of things quickly. Your team's ability to discover. And that's my whole point. mindset-sukcesu
Wrong types of mindset
- When things fail, they gather the lessons and try the next thing until something shows promise. When things aren't working, they try more things. These founders are easy to spot because their website promises an all-in-one solution for dot dot dot. That's because they spent the past three years building features based on their sense of the market, and now the product is too complicated even to describe, let alone use.
- And the engineers spend most of their time managing technical debt for a handful of since they already have good information. They already know who buys their products and why, where to find those people, what to say to them, how to onboard them, how much to charge, and a hundred other little details. feature fallacy
...
- Your business is inevitable. The best startups are inevitable. It's obvious in hindsight. Google. As soon as people had the web, they'd need a way to search it. Uber. As soon as people had smartphones, it was inevitable track them. Your support team needs to figure out what problems customers will have and the most efficient way to address them. Your compliance team will need to figure out how to satisfy legal requirements quickly without burdening your customers or employees.
Framework
- Step one, understand the journey that leads customers to you.
  - Selection. Before your customers feel comfortable choosing a solution, they'll have some specific questions and worries that need to be addressed, along with some switching costs, non-financial factors that make it hard for them to adopt your product. Examples include needing to learn a new skill or getting stakeholder buy-in from a co-worker or spouse.
  - You'll have prospects at every stage of this journey and will deploy different tactics at each stage. For example, if a customer isn't optimization mindset to a discovery mindset. That mindset shift often makes people uncomfortable.
- Step two, map your growth model to find points of leverage.
- Step three, run growth sprints to test ideas quickly.
  - In addition, growth sprints push people to move fast. They'll often need to cobble to 24-hour emergency locksmith with a phone number. Genius. For 99.999% of my life, I won't need a locksmith.
- Step four, shift your team's mindset from optimization to discovery. Let's look at want to make sure it's your thing. hipoteza i eksperyment i iteracje
  - But without the mindset shift, the rest of the process can't work. The discovery process involves being wrong a lot and realizing when you've been wrong all along. It asks you to fail multiple times per week in a very public way. Diligent, conscientious people find this unsettling.

Positioning The Battle for Your Mind - Al Ries, Jack Trout, Philip Kotler

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

product positioning

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind: Al Ries, Jack Trout, Philip Kotler: 8601404251542: Amazon.com: Books

Position as first in the category (category creation) - "be first" (example: VW Beetle)
- If not possible, position "against" current incumbents (example: Linear as Jira alternative)
  - If not possible, find a niche ICP (Primetric for software houses)
    - If not possible, avoid line extensions - it deludes your messaging

(ChatGPT rewrite) To establish a strong market position, follow these strategies:

Position as First in the Category (Category Creation)

• Strive to be the pioneer in a new or emerging category. Example: The VW Beetle was the first in the compact car category, creating its own niche.

Position “Against” Current Incumbents

• If being first is not feasible, position your product as a superior alternative to existing market leaders. Example: Linear positions itself as a more efficient alternative to Jira.

Find a Niche Market (Ideal Customer Profile)

• If competing directly with incumbents is impractical, target a specific niche or underserved segment. Example: Primetric focuses on software houses, catering to their unique needs.

Avoid Line Extensions

• Refrain from extending your product line too broadly, as it can dilute your brand messaging and confuse customers.

By following these steps, you can effectively establish and communicate a strong market position.

Never Enough

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Never Enough

Metadata

Author: Andrew Wilkinson
Full Title: Never Enough: From Barista to Billionaire
Category: #books
Method: Audible
Date: 2024-11-16
Rating: Very Good
Status: In progress (2024-11-16)

Summary

Very good book! I like reading stories of people struggling in the business then succeedes from childhood to today. We can learn important principles of the author like, and distill what was important to the success:

Inversion (from Churlie Munger)

Highlights

Chapter 11: Shark Bites
Chapter 12: The Anti-Goals Acquisition Strategy
13
15
- Rzeczy które daje bogactwo wcale nie daje dużo. Trzeba się nimi zajmować. Nie są aż takie przyjemne. Dają złych znajomych. Stoją nieużywane. Szybko się adaptował. To co było przyjemne szybko się przyzwyczajał. Te wszystkie rzeczy zabierały mu czas.
- Dobrze że nikt nie mówi co ma robić. To ultimate luxory.
- My ultimate goal is freedom of time and freedom from worry.
16
- Jak ma się dużo to można narzekać nadal na rzeczy jak się ma mniej.
- Trzeba się zatrzymać kiedyś i zdać sobie sprawę że masz tylko 15 wakacji ze swoimi dziećmi zanim Cię opuszczą.
17
- fajny rozdział o kapitalizmie
18
19
20

Hold On to Your Kids

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

Hold On to Your Kids

Gordon Neufeld, Gabor Mat


	(2:40:12) Her parents had lost their dominant position in the attachment order. That accounted for her rudeness and lack of respect, especially when peers were around. Likewise with Sean and Melanie. As the attachment with parents had weakened, the hierarchical arrangement meant to facilitate parenting had collapsed, which is what Melanie's father felt so acutely and was reacting to so vehemently. Melanie was treating her parents as if they were equals who had no business bossing her around and trying to run her life. Instinctively, Melanie's father was trying to put her in her place. Unfortunately,

Jak dziecko się buntuje nie naprawi się tego bardziej wymagając tylko tworząc przywiązanie do rodziców	(3:26:30) Was this counterwill dynamic--distorted and magnified by peer orientation? Simple requests resulted in these children getting their backs up. Push came to shove, expectations backfired. The more important something was to the parents, the less inclined the children were to deliver. The more commanding Melanie's father tried to be, the more rebellious his daughter became. It wasn't so much that the parents were doing anything wrong as that their children's counterwill instinct had been made pervasive and even perverse by peer orientation. The natural purpose

GPT-5-Pro

Attachment, not techniques, gives parents real influence; when a child seeks closeness, the parent becomes the home base and love can reach them.
Whoever a child is attached to becomes their “compass point”; peers can displace parents, and competing primary attachments can’t coexist—one will win.
Deeper attachment (love, emotional intimacy, being known) requires vulnerability; peer‑oriented kids avoid vulnerability, favor shallow ties, and become insatiable.
When the attachment hierarchy flips (peers over parents), respect erodes and counterwill rises; force and manipulation worsen the bond and backfire.
Parental power rests on the child depending specifically on the parent; pushing premature independence often just transfers dependence to peers.
Peer orientation stunts growth: it blocks parental nurturance, narrows values to peer approval, hardens emotions, and weakens curiosity, resilience, and integrative learning.
True independence grows from secure dependence: invite closeness, offer unconditional positive regard, warmth, delight, and generous physical affection—let children rest in your love.
Reconnect before you direct: “collect” the child (eye contact, warmth, sameness, loyalty), use spontaneous gestures of attachment rather than transactional praise or gifts.
Attachment is both shield and vulnerability: secure attachment makes children sensitive to caring adults yet more resilient to outside slights; peer orientation removes this shield.
For home and school: restore adult orientation with meals, shared time, village‑like ties to many caring adults; avoid coercion and teach in ways that prioritize relationship and emergent, self‑motivated learning.
Przywiązanie, a nie techniki, daje rodzicom prawdziwy wpływ; gdy dziecko szuka bliskości, rodzic staje się bazą domową i miłość może do niego dotrzeć.
Ktokolwiek, do kogo dziecko jest przywiązane, staje się jego „punktem odniesienia"; rówieśnicy mogą wyprać rodziców, a konkurujące pierwotne przywiązania nie mogą współistnieć—jedno zwycięży.
Głębsze przywiązanie (miłość, intymność emocjonalna, bycie poznanym) wymaga wrażliwości; dzieci zorientowane na rówieśników unikają wrażliwości, preferują płytkie więzi i stają się nienasycone.
Gdy hierarchia przywiązania się odwraca (rówieśnicy nad rodzicami), szacunek eroduje i rośnie przeciwwola; siła i manipulacja pogarszają więź i przynoszą odwrotny skutek.
Władza rodzicielska opiera się na tym, że dziecko zależy konkretnie od rodzica; forsowanie przedwczesnej niezależności często po prostu przenosi zależność na rówieśników.
Orientacja na rówieśników hamuje rozwój: blokuje rodzicielską troskę, zawęża wartości do aprobaty rówieśników, utwardza emocje i osłabia ciekawość, odporność oraz uczenie się integracyjne.
Prawdziwa niezależność wyrasta z bezpiecznej zależności: zapraszaj do bliskości, oferuj bezwarunkową pozytywną akceptację, ciepło, radość i hojną fizyczną czułość—pozwól dzieciom spocząć w twojej miłości.
Połącz się, zanim pokierujesz: „zbierz" dziecko (kontakt wzrokowy, ciepło, podobieństwo, lojalność), używaj spontanicznych gestów przywiązania zamiast transakcyjnych pochwał czy prezentów.
Przywiązanie jest zarówno tarczą, jak i wrażliwością: bezpieczne przywiązanie czyni dzieci wrażliwymi na troskliwych dorosłych, ale bardziej odpornymi na zewnętrzne urazy; orientacja na rówieśników usuwa tę tarczę.
Dla domu i szkoły: przywróć orientację na dorosłych poprzez posiłki, wspólny czas, wioskowe więzi z wieloma troskliwymi dorosłymi; unikaj przymusu i ucz w sposób, który priorytetowo traktuje relacje oraz spontaniczne, samomotywowane uczenie się.
Rola domowych rytuałów (wspólne posiłki, rozmowy, czytanie) w podtrzymywaniu więzi międzypokoleniowych.
„Kontrwola” jako naturalny mechanizm rozwojowy, który pomaga dziecku budować autonomię, jeśli relacja jest bezpieczna.
Skutki używania siły i manipulacji w wychowaniu: osłabienie relacji i większa podatność dziecka na wpływy z zewnątrz.
Różnica między pochwałą transakcyjną a spontaniczną radością i zachwytem dorosłego—tylko to drugie karmi relację.
Pedagogika relacji: najpierw „zebrać” (nawiązać kontakt), potem „kierować”; znaczenie nauczyciela jako osoby, nie tylko metody.
Uczenie się przez próby i błędy wymaga klimatu bezpieczeństwa; atmosfera „niewrażliwości” dławi ciekawość i odwagę intelektualną.
Znaczenie „wioski” (sieci życzliwych dorosłych) dla odporności dziecka na presję rówieśniczą i dla zdrowego rozwoju.
Koncepcja Rogersa: bezwarunkowa akceptacja jako podstawowy „pokarm” emocjonalny potrzebny do dojrzewania.
Bowlby i „detachment” po rozłące: krótkotrwałe odrzucenie po powrocie rodzica jako adaptacja, mogąca zostawiać ślady w relacjach.

Claude

Summary: Attachment, Parenting, and Child Development
Here are the key points from this text about attachment theory and child development:

Attachment is the foundation of parenting power - A parent's ability to guide, nurture, and influence their child comes not from techniques or discipline, but from the strength of the attachment relationship. Without this psychological connection, parenting skills and love cannot effectively reach the child.
Peer orientation undermines healthy development - When children become primarily attached to peers instead of parents, they lose their natural compass point for values, guidance, and emotional support. This leads to increased counterwill (resistance to authority), emotional defensiveness, and developmental immaturity.
Children need unconditional love and dependence before independence - True maturation requires first satisfying a child's attachment needs through unconditional acceptance. Parents must invite dependence rather than push for premature independence - only when children feel securely attached can they naturally mature into autonomous individuals.
Vulnerability and emotional openness are essential for growth - Children who feel safe in their attachments can remain emotionally vulnerable, which allows them to experience fulfillment, learn from mistakes, and develop integrative thinking. Peer-oriented children often defend against vulnerability, stunting their emotional and cognitive development.
The attachment hierarchy must remain intact - Healthy development requires parents to maintain their position as the dominant attachment figures. When this hierarchy inverts (through peer orientation or other factors), children lose respect for parental authority and become resistant to guidance, making them susceptible to peer influence and poor decision-making.

Here are notable specific concepts, stories, and examples mentioned:

The six modes of attachment - Children attach through different developmental stages: physical proximity (senses), sameness (being like someone), belonging/loyalty, significance (mattering to someone), emotional intimacy (love and warm feelings), and being known psychologically (sharing secrets). Parent-oriented children don't like keeping secrets from parents because it creates distance.
Case studies of peer-oriented children - Kirsten (age 7) no longer turned to her parents for comfort, relying instead on a tight-knit group of three friends. Sean developed deep resistance to depending on his parents, even refusing family meals. Melanie (age 13) changed dramatically after her grandmother died, becoming defiant, skipping school, sneaking out, and declaring she hated her parents - a girlfriend filled the attachment void.
The "compass point" metaphor - Children naturally orient themselves by their primary attachment figures like a sailor uses a compass. A child cannot simultaneously use both peers and parents as compass points - one will dominate. When peers become the compass, children adopt peer values (appearance, entertainment, fitting in) over adult values (education, potential, long-term goals).
Brayden and the soccer bullies - When five-year-old Brayden faced taunting from older kids at soccer practice, he confidently stood up to them saying "I am not a stupid little jerk. My daddy says I'm a soccer player." His strong attachment to his father created a shield against peer hurt - attachment divides the world into "those who can hurt you and those who can't."
The counterwill instinct - This natural resistance to coercion helps children develop their own identity. A five-year-old might insist "the sky is NOT blue" simply because the parent said it was - the child's brain blocks out ideas not originating within themselves. This is healthy when properly directed, but becomes destructive when triggered by peer orientation rather than parent attachment.
Peter's inability to understand "work" - Peter couldn't grasp the concept of work because it requires holding mixed feelings simultaneously - not wanting to do something now but being motivated by long-term goals. Too immature to integrate conflicting feelings, he only worked when he felt like it, like a preschooler despite being older.
The seventh-grade oral sex case - A shocking example involved 12-13 year old girls who told a court that offering oral sex to boys was "routine in their community" and they participated "because everyone else was doing it." This illustrated extreme peer orientation overriding normal developmental boundaries and parental values.
Carl Rogers' "unconditional positive regard" - The psychotherapist described a warm, caring attitude with "no conditions of worth attached to it." Applied to parenting, this means the child must feel certainty that she is precisely the person the parents want and love - she cannot do anything to earn or lose that love, it simply exists regardless of behavior.
The spontaneity principle in collecting children - Parents cannot collect (connect with) a child through expected gifts, birthday presents, or rewards for accomplishments. The child must perceive the offering as spontaneous. Example: When a child asks to spend time together, respond with unexpected enthusiasm: "Oh, that's a great idea! I was wondering how we could spend some time together!"
John Bowlby's detachment observations - The psychiatrist studied ten children separated from parents for prolonged periods. Upon reunion, two didn't recognize their mother, eight turned or walked away from her, most cried or came close to tears. This reflexive rejection is an adaptation: "I was so hurt when you abandoned me that I will not reconnect with you."
The author's personal Holocaust story - As an infant, the author was separated from his mother for 5-6 weeks during WWII, surviving thanks to a Christian woman who hid him with relatives. When reunited after Soviet liberation, he "did not so much as look at her for several days" - a traumatic attachment wound that embedded in his nervous system and affected future relationships.
The African village attachment model - In traditional African communities, adults actively collect children at social gatherings before activities begin. The greater the number of caring adults in a child's life, the more immune they are to peer orientation. African children show "joyful spontaneity, natural smiles, freely loose bodily movements" from close contact with loving adults.
Sarah's pattern of quitting - Her parents would sacrifice to make her dreams possible (like saving for figure skating fees and rearranging schedules), only to have Sarah quit at the first frustration or failure - she left skating after just two lessons. This illustrated immature inability to persist through difficulty, a sign of incomplete development.
The brain's hierarchy of priorities - Information ranks very low in the brain's importance - it's more likely to be tuned out than tuned in. The primary and dominant need is togetherness and connection. Children are hungry for information not about the world, but about their attachment status: Do I belong? Am I wanted? Do I matter?
Social architecture shapes behavior more than individual willpower; design environments that make desired actions effortless and undesired ones friction-filled.
Boredom is a developmental gift, not a problem to solve; unfilled time forces the brain to generate its own meaning, building imagination and executive function.
Children don't need constant happiness—they need the full emotional range; shielding them from disappointment, frustration, or sadness stunts emotional literacy and resilience.
Play is the primary engine of learning until age seven; academic pressure before that age hijacks neural pathways meant for exploration, risk-taking, and social negotiation.
Storytelling beats instruction: the brain remembers narrative structure, emotional arcs, and embodied metaphors far better than abstract rules or lists.
Rituals create psychological safety; predictable rhythms (bedtime routines, weekly traditions, seasonal celebrations) anchor identity and signal "you belong here."
Silence and solitude are cognitive nutrients; constant stimulation—screens, activities, noise—prevents the default-mode network from consolidating memory and building self-concept.
Mastery requires failure repetition, not success repetition; growth happens in the zone where attempts fail often enough to demand adaptation but succeed often enough to sustain motivation.
Multi-age interaction teaches what same-age groups can't: younger children learn aspiration and older children learn mentorship, patience, and responsibility—all lost in age-segregated schools.
Nature exposure recalibrates attention and stress systems; even brief contact with green space lowers cortisol, improves focus, and restores directed-attention capacity better than rest alone.

Raw

(0:10:54) but rather who the parent is to a child. When a child seeks contact and closeness with us, we become empowered as a nurturer, a comforter, a guide, a model, a teacher, or a coach. For a child well attached to us, we are her home base from which to venture into the world, her retreat to fall back to, her fountainhead of inspiration. All the parenting skills in the world cannot compensate for a lack of attachment relationship. All the love in the world cannot get through without the psychological umbilical cord created by the child's attachment.
(0:46:16) as a parent substitute. But who becomes the compass point is a function of attachment, and attachment, as we all know, can be fickle. The crucially important orienting function can be bestowed upon someone ill-suited for the task, a child's peers, for example. When a child becomes so attached to her peers that she would rather be with them and be like them, those peers, whether singly or as a group, become that child's working compass point. It will be her peers with whom she will seek closeness. She will look to her peers for cues on how to act, what to wear, how to look, what to say
(0:57:31) parent, or peer. Most parents, though imperfect, are far less likely than peers to keep on hurting children this way. Feeling A fifth way of finding closeness is through feeling. Warm feelings, loving feelings, affectionate feelings. Emotion is always involved in attachment, but in a preschooler who can feel deeply and vulnerably, the pursuit of emotional intimacy becomes intense. Children who pursue connection in this way often fall in love with those they attach to. A child who experiences emotional intimacy
(0:58:24) Love would be the long arm. The child carries the image of the loving and beloved parent in his mind and finds support and comfort in it. But now we are getting into dangerous territory. To give one's heart away is to risk it being broken. Some people never develop the capacity to be emotionally open and vulnerable, usually due to early perceptions of rejection or abandonment. Those who have loved and suffered hurt may retreat to less vulnerable modes of attaching. As we will show, vulnerability is something peer-oriented children seek to escape.
(0:58:38) to risk it being broken. Some people never develop the capacity to be emotionally open and vulnerable, usually due to early perceptions of rejection or abandonment. Those who have loved and suffered hurt may retreat to less vulnerable modes of attaching. As we will show, vulnerability is something peer-oriented children seek to escape. When deeper forms of attachment appear too risky, the less vulnerable modes will predominate. Emotional intimacy is much less common among peer-oriented kids than in parent-oriented kids.
(0:58:38) away is to risk it being broken. Some people never develop the capacity to be emotionally open and vulnerable, usually due to early perceptions of rejection or abandonment. Those who have loved and suffered hurt may retreat to less vulnerable modes of attaching. As we will show, vulnerability is something peer-oriented children seek to escape. When deeper forms of attachment appear too risky, the less vulnerable modes will predominate. Emotional intimacy is much less common among peer-oriented kids than in parent-oriented kids.
(0:59:23) is through being known. The first signs of this final way of attaching are usually observable by the time a child enters school. To feel close to someone is to be known by them. In some ways, this is a recapitulation of attaching by way of the senses, except that being seen and heard are now experienced psychologically instead of strictly physically. In the pursuit of closeness, a child will share his secrets. In fact, closeness will often be defined by the secrets shared. Parent-oriented children do not like to keep secrets from their parents because of the resulting loss of closeness.
(0:59:23) is through being known. The first signs of this final way of attaching are usually observable by the time a child enters school. To feel close to someone is to be known by them. In some ways, this is a recapitulation of attaching by way of the senses, except that being seen and heard are now experienced psychologically instead of strictly physically. In the pursuit of closeness, a child will share his secrets. In fact, closeness will often be defined by the secrets shared. Parent-oriented children do not like to keep secrets from their parents because of the resulting loss of closeness. For a peer
(1:03:55) existence of competing primary attachments, competing orienting relationships—in other words, orienting relationships with conflicting values, conflicting messages. When primary attachments compete, one will lose out. And it is easy to see why. A sailor relying on a compass could not find his way if there were two magnetic north poles. No more successfully could a child simultaneously use both peers and adults as working compass points. The child will orient either by the values of the peer world or the values of the parents, but not both.
(1:29:47) For many of the other children, in general, we focus more on getting our children fed than on the eating rituals meant to keep us connected. In his groundbreaking book, The Sibling Society, the American poet Robert Bly describes many manifestations of peer orientation and hints at its causes. Although Bly doesn't fully analyze the phenomenon, his insights should have received more attention. Family meals, talks, reading together no longer take place, writes Bly. What the young need—stability, presence, attention, advice, good psychic food
(2:07:49) that neither parent could any longer conjure up feelings of warmth or affection toward their son. Melanie was thirteen years old. Her father could barely contain his anger when he talked about his daughter. Life with her changed after Melanie's grandmother had died when the child was in the sixth grade. Until that time, Melanie had been cooperative at home, a good student at school, and a loving sister to her brother, who was three years older. Now she was missing classes and couldn't care less about homework. She was sneaking out of the house on a regular basis. She refused to talk to her parents, declaring that she hated them,
(2:07:49) that neither parent could any longer conjure up feelings of warmth or affection toward their son. Melanie was 13 years old. Her father could barely contain his anger when he talked about his daughter. Life with her changed after Melanie's grandmother had died when the child was in the sixth grade. Until that time, Melanie had been cooperative at home, a good student at school, and a loving sister to her brother, who was three years older. Now she was missing classes and couldn't care less about homework. She was sneaking out of the house on a regular basis. She refused to talk to her parents, declaring that she hated them.
(2:09:59) and heard mock complaint: If parenting is so important, kids should come with a manual! The Secret of Parental Power Many people have concluded that parents cannot be expected to know what to do without formal training. There are all kinds of parenting courses now, and even classes teaching parents how to read nursery rhymes to their toddlers. Yet experts cannot teach what is most fundamental to effective parenting. The power to parent does not arise from techniques, no matter how well meant, but from the attachment relationship. In all three of our
(2:09:59) ...heard mock complaint, if parenting is so important, kids should come with a manual. The secret of parental power. Many people have concluded that parents cannot be expected to know what to do without formal training. There are all kinds of parenting courses now, and even classes teaching parents how to read nursery rhymes to their toddlers. Yet experts cannot teach what is most fundamental to effective parenting. The power to parent does not arise from techniques, no matter how well meant, but from the attachment relationship.
(2:10:11) Many people have concluded that parents cannot be expected to know what to do without formal training. There are all kinds of parenting courses now, and even classes teaching parents how to read nursery rhymes to their toddlers. Yet experts cannot teach what is most fundamental to effective parenting. The power to parent does not arise from techniques, no matter how well-meant, but from the attachment relationship. In all three of our examples, that power was missing. The secret of a parent's power is in the dependence of the child.
(2:10:11) Many people have concluded that parents cannot be expected to know what to do without formal training. There are all kinds of parenting courses now, and even classes teaching parents how to read nursery rhymes to their toddlers. Yet experts cannot teach what is most fundamental to effective parenting. The power to parent does not arise from techniques, no matter how well meant, but from the attachment relationship. In all three of our examples, that power was missing. The secret of a parent's power is in the dependence of the child. Children are born
(2:10:34) no matter how well meant, but from the attachment relationship. In all three of our examples, that power was missing. The secret of a parent's power is in the dependence of the child. Children are born completely dependent, unable to make their own way in this world. Their lack of viability as separate beings makes them utterly reliant on others for being taken care of, for guidance and direction, for support and approval, for a sense of home and belonging. It is the child's state of dependence that makes parenting necessary in the first place.
(2:10:34) No matter how well meant, but from the attachment relationship. In all three of our examples, that power was missing. The secret of a parent's power is in the dependence of the child. Children are born completely dependent, unable to make their own way in this world. Their lack of viability as separate beings makes them utterly reliant on others for being taken care of, for guidance and direction, for support and approval, for a sense of home and belonging. It is the child's state of dependence that makes parenting necessary in the first place. If our children didn't
(2:11:04) for a sense of home and belonging. It is the child's state of dependence that makes parenting necessary in the first place. If our children didn't need us, we would not need the power to parent. At first glance, the dependence of children seems straightforward enough. But here is the glitch: being dependent does not guarantee dependence on the appropriate caregivers. Every child is born in need of nurturing, but after infancy and toddlerhood not all children necessarily look to the parent to provide it.
(2:11:04) a sense of home and belonging. It is the child's state of dependence that makes parenting necessary in the first place. If our children didn't need us, we would not need the power to parent. At first glance, the dependence of children seems straightforward enough. But here is the glitch: being dependent does not guarantee dependence on the appropriate caregivers. Every child is born in need of nurturing, but after infancy and toddlerhood not all children necessarily look to the parent to provide it.
(2:11:23) forward enough. But here is the glitch: being dependent does not guarantee dependence on the appropriate caregivers. Every child is born in need of nurturing, but after infancy and toddlerhood not all children necessarily look to the parent to provide it. Our power to parent rests not in how dependent our child is but in how much our child depends specifically on us. The power to execute our parental responsibilities lies not in the neediness of our children but in their looking to us to be the answer to their needs.
(2:11:33) need of nurturing, but after infancy and toddlerhood not all children necessarily look to the parent to provide it. Our power to parent rests not in how dependent our child is, but in how much our child depends specifically on us. The power to execute our parental responsibilities lies not in the neediness of our children, but in their looking to us to be the answer to their needs. We cannot truly take care of a child who does not count on us to be taken care of, or who depends on us only for food, clothing, shelter, and other material
(2:11:33) of nurturing, but after infancy and toddlerhood, not all children necessarily look to the parent to provide it. Our power to parent rests not in how dependent our child is, but in how much our child depends specifically on us. The power to execute our parental responsibilities lies not in the neediness of our children, but in their looking to us to be the answer to their needs. We cannot truly take care of a child who does not count on us to be taken care of, or who depends on us only for food, clothing, shelter, and other material
(2:11:47) but in how much our child depends specifically on us. The power to execute our parental responsibilities lies not in the neediness of our children but in their looking to us to be the answer to their needs. We cannot truly take care of a child who does not count on us to be taken care of or who depends on us only for food, clothing, shelter, and other material concerns. We cannot emotionally support a child who is not leaning on us for his psychological needs. It is frustrating to direct a child who does not welcome our guidance.
(2:11:47) but in how much our child depends specifically on us. The power to execute our parental responsibilities lies not in the neediness of our children, but in their looking to us to be the answer to their needs. We cannot truly take care of a child who does not count on us to be taken care of, or who depends on us only for food, clothing, shelter, and other material concerns. We cannot emotionally support a child who is not leaning on us for his psychological needs. It is frustrating to direct a child who does not welcome our guidance, irksome and self-defeating
(2:12:06) count on us to be taken care of, or who depends on us only for food, clothing, shelter, and other material concerns. We cannot emotionally support a child who is not leaning on us for his psychological needs. It is frustrating to direct a child who does not welcome our guidance, irksome and self-defeating to assist one who is not seeking our help. That was the situation faced by the parents of Kirsten, Sean, and Melanie. Kirsten no longer relied on her parents for her attachment needs or for her cues on how to be and what to do. At the tender age of seven, she no longer turned to them
(2:12:20) It is frustrating to direct a child who does not welcome our guidance, irksome and self-defeating to assist one who is not seeking our help. That was the situation faced by the parents of Kirsten, Sean, and Melanie. Kirsten no longer relied on her parents for her attachment needs or for her cues on how to be and what to do. At the tender age of seven, she no longer turned to them for comfort and nurturance. Sean's stance went beyond that. He had developed a deep-seated resistance to being dependent on his father and mother. Sean's resistance, and Melanie's, extended even to being fed.
(2:12:20) psychological needs. It is frustrating to direct a child who does not welcome our guidance, irksome and self-defeating to assist one who is not seeking our help. That was the situation faced by the parents of Kirsten, Sean, and Melanie. Kirsten no longer relied on her parents for her attachment needs or for her cues on how to be and what to do. At the tender age of seven, she no longer turned to them for comfort and nurturance. Sean's stance went beyond that. He had developed a deep-seated resistance to being dependent on his father and mother. Sean's resistance, and Melanie's, extended even to being fed.
(2:12:42) At the tender age of seven, she no longer turned to them for comfort and nurturance. Sean's stance went beyond that—he had developed a deep-seated resistance to being dependent on his father and mother. Sean's resistance, and Melanie's, extended even to being fed or, more exactly, to the ritual of feeding that takes place at the family table. Melanie, as she entered adolescence, no longer looked to her parents for a sense of home or connection. She had no wish to be understood by them or to be intimately known by them. Not one of these three children felt dependent on their parents, and that was at the root of the frustration
(2:14:26) In the lives of these three children, peers had replaced parents as the objects of emotional dependence. Kirsten had a tight-knit group of three friends who served as her compass point and her home base. For Sean, the peer group in general became his working attachment, the entity to which he became connected in place of his parents. His values, interests, and motivations were invested in his peers and the peer culture. For Melanie, the attachment void created by the death of her grandmother was filled by a girlfriend. In all three cases, the peer relationships competed with attachments to the parents, and in each case...
(2:15:13) This spells double trouble for us parents. Not only are we left without the power to manage our child, but the innocent and incompetent usurpers acquire the power to lead our children astray. Our children's peers did not actively seek this power; it goes with the territory of dependence. This sinister cut in parenting power often comes when we least expect it and at a time when we are most in need of natural authority. The seeds of peer dependence have usually taken root by the primary grades, but it is in the intermediate years that the growing incompatibility of peer and parent attachments plays havoc.
(2:15:13) It spells double trouble for us parents. Not only are we left without the power to manage our child, but the innocent and incompetent usurpers acquire the power to lead our children astray. Our children's peers did not actively seek this power. It goes with the territory of dependence. This sinister cut in parenting power often comes when we least expect it and at a time when we are most in need of natural authority. The seeds of peer dependence have usually taken root by the primary grades, but it is in the intermediate years that the growing incompatibility of peer and parent attachments plays havoc.
(2:16:05) apparent, slips from our hands. What to us looks like independence is really just dependence transferred. We are in such a hurry for our children to be able to do things themselves that we do not see just how dependent they really are. Like power, dependence has become a dirty word. We want our children to be self-directing, self-motivated, self-controlled, self-orienting, self-reliant, and self-assured. We have put such a premium on independence that we lose sight of what childhood is about. Parents will complain of their child's oppositional and
(2:16:05) appearance slips from our hands. What to us looks like independence is really just dependence transferred. We are in such a hurry for our children to be able to do things themselves that we do not see just how dependent they really are. Like power, dependence has become a dirty word. We want our children to be self-directing, self-motivated, self-controlled, self-orienting, self-reliant, and self-assured. We have put such a premium on independence that we lose sight of what childhood is about. Parents will complain of their child's oppositional and
(2:16:16) to be able to do things themselves that we do not see just how dependent they really are. Like power, dependence has become a dirty word. We want our children to be self-directing, self-motivated, self-controlled, self-orienting, self-reliant, and self-assured. We have put such a premium on independence that we lose sight of what childhood is about. Parents will complain of their child's oppositional and off-putting behaviors, but rarely do they note that their children have stopped looking to them for nurturing, comfort, and assistance. They are disturbed by their child's failure
(2:16:30) self-controlled, self-orienting, self-reliant, and self-assured. We have put such a premium on independence that we lose sight of what childhood is about. Parents will complain of their child's oppositional and off-putting behaviors, but rarely do they note that their children have stopped looking to them for nurturing, comfort, and assistance. They are disturbed by their child's failure to comply with their reasonable expectations, but seem unaware that the child no longer seeks their affection, approval, or appreciation. They do not notice that the child is turning to peers for support,
(2:18:05) parental authority. Much of my work with families, and much of the advice I will give in this book, is intended to help parents reassume their natural position of authority. What enables peers to displace parents in the first place, given that such displacement seems contrary to what is needed? As always, there is logic to the natural order of things. A child's ability to attach to people who are not her biological parents serves an important function, because in life the presence of the birth parents is by no means assured. They could die or disappear. Our attachment programming required the flexibility
(2:36:53) and also how things are meant to work, our attempted solutions, no matter how well-intentioned, will only compound the problem. Attachment arranges the parent and child hierarchically. The first business of attachment is to arrange adults and children in a hierarchical order. When humans enter a relationship, their attachment brain automatically ranks the participants in order of dominance. Embedded in our inborn brain apparatus are archetypical positions that divide roughly into dominant and dependent, caregiving and care-
(2:36:53) And also how things are meant to work, our attempted solutions, no matter how well-intentioned, will only compound the problem. Attachment arranges the parent and child hierarchically. The first business of attachment is to arrange adults and children in a hierarchical order. When humans enter a relationship, their attachment brain automatically ranks the participants in order of dominance. Embedded in our inborn brain apparatus are archetypical positions that divide roughly into dominant and dependent, caregiving and caregiver.
(2:39:38) to their dominant role. A peer-oriented child has no inner sense of order or rank, no desire for the parent to be bigger than one or above one. On the contrary, any such posturing in the parent strikes the peer-oriented child as contrived and unnatural, as if the parent is trying to lord it over the child or trying to put him down. The three children in the previous chapter were all seduced away from their parental attachments by peer orientation. Although Kirsten was only seven years old, her parents had lost their dominant position in the attachment order. That accounted for
(2:39:54) oriented child is contrived and unnatural, as if the parent is trying to lord it over the child or trying to put him down. The three children in the previous chapter were all seduced away from their parental attachments by peer orientation. Although Kirsten was only seven years old, her parents had lost their dominant position in the attachment order. That accounted for her rudeness and lack of respect, especially when peers were around. Likewise with Sean and Melanie. As the attachment with parents had weakened, the hierarchical arrangement meant to facilitate parenting had collapsed, which is what Melanie's father
(2:40:12) Her parents had lost their dominant position in the attachment order. That accounted for her rudeness and lack of respect, especially when peers were around. Likewise with Sean and Melanie. As the attachment with parents had weakened, the hierarchical arrangement meant to facilitate parenting had collapsed, which is what Melanie's father felt so acutely and was reacting to so vehemently. Melanie was treating her parents as if they were equals who had no business bossing her around and trying to run her life. Instinctively, Melanie's father was trying to put her in her place. Unfortunately,
(2:41:01) child into obedience, at the price of grave damage to the relationship and to the child's long-term development. Peer orientation is not the only way the attachment order can become inverted. It may happen, for example, because the parents have unresolved needs they project onto the child. In our respective practices as psychologist and physician, we have both seen parents who would rely on their children as confidants, complaining to their children about problems with their spouse. The child becomes a listening post for the parent's emotional distress. Instead of being able to confide to her parents her own difficulty,
(2:41:36) emotional distress. Instead of being able to confide to her parents her own difficulties, she learns to suppress her needs and to serve the emotional needs of others. Such an inversion of the attachment hierarchy is also harmful to healthy development. In Attachment, the first volume of his classic trilogy exploring the influence of parent-child relationships on personality development, the psychiatrist John Bowlby writes that, "...the reversal of roles between child or adolescent and parent, unless very temporary, is almost always not only a sign of pathology in the parent, but a cause of it in the child."
(2:41:36) Instead of being able to confide to her parents her own difficulties, she learns to suppress her needs and to serve the emotional needs of others. Such an inversion of the attachment hierarchy is also harmful to healthy development. In Attachment, the first volume of his classic trilogy exploring the influence of parent-child relationships on personality development, the psychiatrist John Bowlby writes that the reversal of roles between child or adolescent and parent, unless very temporary, is almost always not only a sign of pathology in the parent, but a cause of it in the child.
(2:47:07) The mother cat will physically chastise the kitten for the slightest infraction, no matter how unavoidable it was. Our maturity as human parents and our sense of responsibility can help us transcend such instinctive reactions, but we still have much in common with other creatures of attachment. We too are triggered more easily when the attachment has become weakened. The lack of spontaneous mutual attachment is probably what has given step-parents such a bad reputation in the fairy tales of children. Most of us need the help of attachment to put up with the wear and tear experienced while executing
(2:47:07) The mother cat will physically chastise the kitten for the slightest infraction, no matter how unavoidable it was. Our maturity as human parents and our sense of responsibility can help us transcend such instinctive reactions, but we still have much in common with other creatures of attachment. We too are triggered more easily when the attachment has become weakened. The lack of spontaneous mutual attachment is probably what has given stepparents such a bad reputation in the fairy tales of children. Most of us need the help of attachment to put up with the wear and tear experienced while executing
(2:58:17) Attachment provides power-assisted learning. How delightful it is, many people have found, to study a new language when in love with the charming instructor! Whether we know it or not, as parents and teachers we rely heavily on attachment to make models out of us. When peers replace parents as the dominant attachment figures, they become our child's models without of course assuming any responsibility for the end result. Our children copy each other's language, gestures, actions, attitudes, and preferences. The learning is just as impressive, but the content
(2:58:17) Attachment provides power-assisted learning. How delightful it is, many people have found, to study a new language when in love with the charming instructor. Whether we know it or not, as parents and teachers we rely heavily on attachment to make models out of us. When peers replace parents as the dominant attachment figures, they become our child's models without of course assuming any responsibility for the end result. Our children copy each other's language, gestures, actions, attitudes, and preferences. The learning is just as impressive, but the content is
(3:06:22) the child that he is good, we think we are describing an innate characteristic of the child. What we don't see is that it's the child's attachment to the adult that fosters that goodness. In this way, we are blind to the power of attachment. The danger in believing that the child's innate personality causes his desire to be good is that we will blame and shame him, we will see him as bad, if we find that desire lacking. The impulse to be good arises less from a child's character than from the nature of a child's relationships. If a child is bad, it's the relationship we need to correct, not the child.
(3:06:22) child that he is good, we think we are describing an innate characteristic of the child. What we don't see is that it's the child's attachment to the adult that fosters that goodness. In this way, we are blind to the power of attachment. The danger in believing that the child's innate personality causes his desire to be good is that we will blame and shame him, we will see him as bad if we find that desire lacking. The impulse to be good arises less from a child's character than from the nature of a child's relationships. If a child is bad, it's the relationship we need to correct, not the child.
(3:11:46) respect for society, the realization of potential, the development of talent, the pursuit of a passion, the appreciation of culture—are often replaced with peer values that are much more immediate and short term. Appearance, entertainment, peer loyalty, spending time together, fitting into the subculture, and getting along with each other will be prized above education and the realization of personal potential. Parents often find themselves arguing about values, not realizing that for their peer-oriented children, values are nothing more than the standards that they, the children, must meet in order to gain the acceptance.
(3:24:17) Asked what matters the most to them, peer-oriented and counterwill-driven children often reply, to not let anyone push us around. So pervasive and severe is their counterwill that to adults they seem incorrigible and impossible to manage. Clinicians diagnose such children with oppositional defiant disorder. Yet it is not the oppositionality, the counterwill that is out of order, but the child's attachments. These children are only being true to their instinct in defying people to whom they do not feel connected. The more peer-oriented a child, the more resistant to the adults in charge.
(3:26:30) was this counterwill dynamic, distorted and magnified by peer orientation. Simple requests resulted in these children getting their backs up, push came to shove, expectations backfired. The more important something was to the parents, the less inclined the children were to deliver. The more commanding Melanie's father tried to be, the more rebellious his daughter became. It wasn't so much that the parents were doing anything wrong as that their children's counterwill instinct had been made pervasive and even perverse by peer orientation. The natural purpose
(3:27:50) helpless and dependent, but the outcome of natural development is the maturation of a self-motivated and self-regulated individual with a genuine will of her own. The long transition from infancy to adulthood begins with the very young child's tentative moves toward separation from the parents. Counterwill first appears in the toddler to help in that task of individuation. In essence, the child erects a wall of no's. Behind this wall, the child can gradually learn her likes and dislikes, aversions and preferences, without being overwhelmed by the far more powerful will of the parent.
(3:33:15) But, as I will explain, that shift toward genuine independence can happen only when a child is absolutely secure in his attachment to the adults in his life. See Chapter 9. A five-year-old safely grounded in his relationship with his parents might react to a "the sky is blue" kind of statement by retorting adamantly that it is not. It may seem to the parent that the child is blatantly contrary or trying to be difficult. In reality, the child's brain is simply blocking out any ideas or thoughts that have not originated within him. Anything that is alien to him is resisted
(3:33:15) But, as I will explain, that shift toward genuine independence can happen only when a child is absolutely secure in his attachment to the adults in his life. See Chapter 9. A five-year-old, safely grounded in his relationship with his parents, might react to a "the sky is blue" kind of statement by retorting adamantly that it is not. It may seem to the parent that the child is blatantly contrary or trying to be difficult. In reality, the child's brain is simply blocking out any ideas or thoughts that have not originated within him. Anything that is alien to him is resistant
(3:34:54) and the child makes headway in becoming her own person, the need for attachment wanes. As it does, the maturing child will be even more sensitive to coercion and even less amenable to being bossed around. Such a child will feel demeaned when treated as if he or she does not have his own thoughts and opinions, boundaries, values and goals, decisions and aspirations. She will resist adamantly when not acknowledged as a separate person. Again, this is a good thing. Counterwill is serving the purpose of protecting the child against becoming an extension of anyone else, even the parent.
(3:34:54) Ultimately, and the child makes headway in becoming her own person, the need for attachment wanes. As it does, the maturing child will be even more sensitive to coercion and even less amenable to being bossed around. Such a child will feel demeaned when treated as if he or she does not have his own thoughts and opinions, boundaries, values and goals, decisions and aspirations. She will resist adamantly when not acknowledged as a separate person. Again, this is a good thing. Counterwill is serving the purpose of protecting the child against becoming an extension of anyone else, even the parent.
(3:35:03) and even less amenable to being bossed around. Such a child will feel demeaned when treated as if he or she does not have his own thoughts and opinions, boundaries, values and goals, decisions and aspirations. She will resist adamantly when not acknowledged as a separate person. Again, this is a good thing. Counterwill is serving the purpose of protecting the child against becoming an extension of anyone else, even the parent. It helps to deliver an autonomous, emergent, independent being, full of vitality and able to function outside of attachments.
(3:35:03) sensitive to coercion and even less amenable to being bossed around. Such a child will feel demeaned when treated as if he or she does not have his own thoughts and opinions, boundaries, values and goals, decisions and aspirations. She will resist adamantly when not acknowledged as a separate person. Again, this is a good thing. Counterwill is serving the purpose of protecting the child against becoming an extension of anyone else, even the parent. It helps to deliver an autonomous, emergent, independent being, full of vitality and able to function outside of attachments.
(3:39:06) to do so, he will suppress his own feelings and camouflage his own opinions, should they differ from those of his peers. Are we saying that it may not be natural, for example, that a teenager may want to stay out late with his friends? No, the teen may want to hang out with his pals not because he is driven by peer orientation but simply because on occasion that's just what he feels like doing. The question is, is he willing to discuss the matter with his parents? Is he respectful of their perspective? Is he able to say no to his friends when he has other responsibilities or family events or when he simply may prefer being on his own?
(3:39:06) his peers. To do so, he will suppress his own feelings and camouflage his own opinions, should they differ from those of his peers. Are we saying that it may not be natural, for example, that a teenager may want to stay out late with his friends? No, the teen may want to hang out with his pals not because he is driven by peer orientation, but simply because on occasion that's just what he feels like doing. The question is, is he willing to discuss the matter with his parents? Is he respectful of their perspective? Is he able to say no to his friends when he has other responsibilities or family events, or when he simply may prefer being on his own?
(3:43:44) is not without cost. The relationship will be weakened by the insecurity caused by our anger and our threats. The more force we use, the more wear and tear on the relationship. The weaker the relationship becomes, the more prone we are to being replaced, nowadays most often by peers. Not only is peer orientation a major cause of counterwill, but our reactions to counterwill can foster peer orientation. Why Force and Manipulation Backfire
(3:43:44) The relationship is not without cost. The relationship will be weakened by the insecurity caused by our anger and our threats. The more force we use, the more wear and tear on the relationship. The weaker the relationship becomes, the more prone we are to being replaced, nowadays most often by peers. Not only is peer orientation a major cause of counterwill, but our reactions to counterwill can foster peer orientation. Why force and manipulation backfire
(3:50:25) We need to get past the symptoms. If all we perceive is the resistance or the insolence, we will respond with anger, frustration, and force. We must see that the child is only reacting instinctively whenever he feels he is being pushed and pulled. Beyond the counterwill, we need to recognize the weakened attachment. The defiance is not the essence of the problem. The root cause is the peer orientation that makes counterwill backfire on adults and robs it of its natural purpose. As we will discuss in Part 4, the best response to a child's
(4:16:02) These are not the kids I am most concerned about, although I certainly do have a concern about the impact an atmosphere of invulnerability will have on their learning and development. In such an environment, genuine curiosity cannot thrive, questions cannot be freely asked, naive enthusiasm for learning cannot be expressed. Risks are not taken in such an environment, nor can passion for life and creativity find their outlets.
(4:16:02) using themselves to ridicule and attack. Invulnerability is a camouflage they adopt to blend in with the crowd but will quickly remove in the company of those with whom they have the safety to be their true selves. These are not the kids I am most concerned about, although I certainly do have a concern about the impact an atmosphere of invulnerability will have on their learning and development. In such an environment, genuine curiosity cannot thrive, questions cannot be freely asked, naive enthusiasm for learning cannot be expressed. Risks are not taken in such an environment, nor can passion for life and creativity find their outlets.
(4:17:52) whose experience of emotional pain has been profound. Most likely to develop this extreme type of defensive emotional hardening are children from orphanages or multiple foster homes, children who have experienced significant losses or have suffered abuse and neglect. Given the trauma they have endured, it is easy to appreciate why such children would have developed powerful unconscious defenses. What is surprising is that, without any comparable trauma, many children who have been peer-oriented for some time can manifest the same level of defensiveness. It seems that peer-oriented kids
(4:19:39) Everyone can experience such emotional closing down at times. A child becomes defended against vulnerability when being shut down is no longer just a temporary reaction but becomes a persistent state. There are four reasons peer-oriented kids are more susceptible to emotional wounds than adult-oriented ones. The net effect is a flight from vulnerability disturbingly similar to the emotional hardening of traumatized children. Peer-oriented children lose their natural shield against stress.
(4:19:39) Emotionally wounded. Everyone can experience such emotional closing down at times. A child becomes defended against vulnerability when being shut down is no longer just a temporary reaction but becomes a persistent state. There are four reasons peer-oriented kids are more susceptible to emotional wounds than adult-oriented ones. The net effect is a flight from vulnerability disturbingly similar to the emotional hardening of traumatized children. Peer-oriented children lose their natural shield against stress.
(4:22:05) When Brayden was five years old, Brayden wanted to play soccer in the local community league. On the very first day of practice, some older kids gave him a rough time. When I heard their voices taunting and ridiculing him, I quickly turned into a protective father bear. I had every intention of giving these young bullies an external attitude adjustment. When I observed Brayden face off with them, stretching himself to his full height, putting his hands on his hips, and sticking his chest out as far as it would go. I heard him say something like, I am not a stupid little jerk. My daddy says I'm a soccer player. And that seemed to be that.
(4:22:05) five years old. Brayden wanted to play soccer in the local community league. On the very first day of practice some older kids gave him a rough time. When I heard their voices taunting and ridiculing him, I quickly turned into a protective father bear. I had every intention of giving these young bullies an external attitude adjustment. When I observed Brayden face off with them, stretching himself to his full height, putting his hands on his hips and sticking his chest out as far as it would go, I heard him say something like, I am not a stupid little jerk. My daddy says I'm a soccer player. And that seemed to be that.
(4:23:18) also sensitizes him to the father's own words and gestures. If he, the parent, belittled him, shamed him, poured contempt on him, Brayden would be devastated. His attachment to his parents renders him highly vulnerable in relationship to them, but less vulnerable in relationship to others. There is an inside and an outside to attachment. The vulnerability is on the inside, the invulnerability on the outside. Attachment is both a shield and a sword. Attachment divides the world into those who can hurt you and those who can't. Attachment and vulnerability,
(4:23:18) also sensitizes him to the father's own words and gestures. If he, the parent, belittled him, shamed him, poured contempt on him, Braden would be devastated. His attachment to his parents renders him highly vulnerable in relationship to them, but less vulnerable in relationship to others. There is an inside and an outside to attachment. The vulnerability is on the inside, the invulnerability on the outside. Attachment is both a shield and a sword. Attachment divides the world into those who can hurt you and those who can't. Attachment and vulnerability, these two great
(4:23:57) These two great themes of human existence go hand in hand. An obvious part of our job as parents is to defend our children against being physically wounded. Although the bruising is not always so visible, the capacity to be hurt is even greater in the psychological arena. Even we adults, as relatively mature creatures, can be violently thrown off our course or become immobilized by the emotional pain of disrupted attachments. If we as adults can get hurt in this way, how much more can children, who are far more dependent, far more in need of their attachments?
(4:51:16) parents. They would extend themselves to make possible some fervently expressed desire of hers, only to find that she bolted at the first moment of frustration or failure. She quit her figure skating class at the end of her second lesson after they had carefully saved the money for the fees and arranged their schedules to accommodate her timetable. Sarah was also very impulsive, impatient, and would lose her temper easily. She kept on promising to be good, but often failed to follow through. Peter's mother and father were also concerned. Their son was chronically impatient and irritable, at times getting quite nasty with his sister as well as his parents.
(4:54:37) It affects many children well past the preschool years and may even be seen in teenagers and adults. Many adults have not attained maturity, have not mastered being independent, self-motivated individuals capable of tending their own emotional needs and of respecting the needs of others. Among the several reasons why maturity is less and less prevalent today, peer orientation is probably the main culprit. Immaturity and peer orientation go hand in hand. The earlier the onset of peer orientation in a child's life and the more intense the preoccupation with peers, the greater the likelihood
(4:54:37) affects many children well past the preschool years and may even be seen in teenagers and adults. Many adults have not attained maturity, have not mastered being independent, self-motivated individuals capable of tending their own emotional needs and of respecting the needs of others. Among the several reasons why maturity is less and less prevalent today, peer orientation is probably the main culprit. Immaturity and peer orientation go hand in hand. The earlier the onset of peer orientation in a child's life and the more intense the preoccupation with peers, the greater the likelihood
(4:58:14) Peter could not assimilate the idea of work because the concept requires mixed feelings. Work is often not very attractive, but we generally do it because we can mix our resistance to it in the moment with a commitment or purpose we may have in mind for the long term. Too immature to hold on to a goal beyond immediate satisfaction, Peter worked only when he felt like it, and that wasn't very often. He was conscious of no more than one feeling at a time. In this sense, he was no different from any preschooler. His failure to endure conflicting thoughts, feelings, and purposes in his consciousness was a legacy
(5:02:14) becomes unique and separate from other individuals. The better differentiated she becomes, the more she is able to mix with others without losing her sense of self. More fundamentally, a sense of self first needs to separate from inner experience, a capacity entirely absent in the young child. The child has to be able to know that she is not identical with whatever feeling happens to be active in her at any particular moment. She can feel something without her actions being necessarily dominated by that feeling. She can be aware of other conflicting feelings or of thoughts
(5:08:41) for parents is to help kids grow up, not simply to look like grown-ups. If discipline is no cure for immaturity and if scripting is helpful but insufficient, how can we help our children mature? For years, developmentalists puzzled over the conditions that activated maturation. The breakthrough came only when researchers discovered the fundamental importance of attachment. Surprising as it may be to say, the story of maturation is quite straightforward and self-evident. Like so much else in child development, it begins with attachment.
(5:09:46) Their needs are met for attachment, for nurturing contact, and for being able to depend on the relationship unconditionally. Few parents, and even fewer experts, understand this intuitively. When I became a parent, one thoughtful father who did understand said to me, I saw that the world seemed absolutely convinced that you must form your children, actively form their characters, rather than simply create an environment in which they can develop and thrive. Nobody seemed to get that if you give them the loving connection they need, they will flourish.
(5:09:53) Few parents, and even fewer experts, understand this intuitively. When I became a parent, one thoughtful father who did understand said to me, I saw that the world seemed absolutely convinced that you must form your children, actively form their characters, rather than simply create an environment in which they can develop and thrive. Nobody seemed to get that if you give them the loving connection they need, they will flourish. The key to activating maturation is to take care of the attachment needs of the child.
(5:09:53) Few parents, and even fewer experts, understand this intuitively. When I became a parent, one thoughtful father who did understand said to me, I saw that the world seemed absolutely convinced that you must form your children, actively form their characters, rather than simply create an environment in which they can develop and thrive. Nobody seemed to get that if you give them the loving connection they need, they will flourish. The key to activating maturation is to take care of the attachment needs of the child, to foster
(5:10:02) One thoughtful father who did understand said to me, "I saw that the world seemed absolutely convinced that you must form your children, actively form their characters, rather than simply create an environment in which they can develop and thrive. Nobody seemed to get that if you give them the loving connection they need, they will flourish. The key to activating maturation is to take care of the attachment needs of the child. To foster independence, we must first invite dependence. To promote individuation, we must provide a sense of belonging and unity
(5:10:16) Nobody seemed to get that if you give them the loving connection they need, they will flourish. The key to activating maturation is to take care of the attachment needs of the child. To foster independence, we must first invite dependence. To promote individuation, we must provide a sense of belonging and unity. To help the child separate, we must assume the responsibility for keeping the child close. We help a child let go by providing more contact and connection than he himself is seeking. When he asks for a hug, we give him
(5:10:26) The key to activating maturation is to take care of the attachment needs of the child. To foster independence we must first invite dependence; to promote individuation we must provide a sense of belonging and unity; to help the child separate we must assume the responsibility for keeping the child close. We help a child let go by providing more contact and connection than he himself is seeking. When he asks for a hug, we give him a warmer one than he is giving us. We liberate children not by making them work for our love but by letting them rest in it.
(5:10:44) responsibility for keeping the child close. We help a child let go by providing more contact and connection than he himself is seeking. When he asks for a hug, we give him a warmer one than he is giving us. We liberate children not by making them work for our love, but by letting them rest in it. We help a child face the separation involved in going to sleep or going to school by satisfying his need for closeness. Thus, the story of maturation is one of paradox. Dependence and attachment foster independence and genuine separation.
(5:11:23) Attachment is the womb of maturation. Just as the biological womb gives birth to a separate being in the physical sense, attachment gives birth to a separate being in the psychological sense. Following physical birth, the developmental agenda is to form an emotional attachment womb for the child from which he can be born once again as an autonomous individual, capable of functioning without being dominated by attachment drives. Humans never outgrow their need to connect with others, nor should they, but mature, truly individual people are not controlled by these needs. Becoming such a separate being
(5:13:14) sense of confidence in a supply, getting food will continue to be the top priority. A child is not free to proceed with his learning and his life until the food issues are taken care of, and we parents do that as a matter of course. Our duty ought to be equally transparent to us in satisfying the child's attachment hunger. In his book On Becoming a Person, the psychotherapist Carl Rogers describes a warm, caring attitude, for which he adopted the phrase unconditional positive regard, because, he said, it has no conditions of worth attached to it. This is a caring
(5:14:11) therapist in relation to her or his clients. Substitute parent for therapist and child for client, and we have an eloquent description of what is needed in a parent-child relationship. Unconditional parental love is the indispensable nutrient for the child's healthy emotional growth. The first task is to create space in the child's heart for the certainty that she is precisely the person the parents want and love. She does not have to do anything or be any different to earn that love. In fact, she cannot do anything since that love cannot be won or lost. It is not conditional. It is just there.
(5:14:11) Substitute parent for therapist and child for client, and we have an eloquent description of what is needed in a parent-child relationship. Unconditional parental love is the indispensable nutrient for the child's healthy emotional growth. The first task is to create space in the child's heart for the certainty that she is precisely the person the parents want and love. She does not have to do anything or be any different to earn that love; in fact, she cannot do anything since that love cannot be won or lost. It is not conditional. It is just there.
(5:14:27) child's healthy emotional growth. The first task is to create space in the child's heart for the certainty that she is precisely the person the parents want and love. She does not have to do anything or be any different to earn that love. In fact, she cannot do anything since that love cannot be won or lost. It is not conditional. It is just there, regardless of which side the child is acting from, good or bad. The child can be ornery, unpleasant, whiny, uncooperative, and plain rude, and the parent still lets her feel loved.
(5:14:27) healthy emotional growth. The first task is to create space in the child's heart for the certainty that she is precisely the person the parents want and love. She does not have to do anything or be any different to earn that love. In fact, she cannot do anything since that love cannot be won or lost. It is not conditional. It is just there, regardless of which side the child is acting from, good or bad. The child can be ornery, unpleasant, whiny, uncooperative, and plain rude, and the parent still lets her feel loved.
(5:17:59) Peer orientation stunts growth in five significant ways. Parental nurturance cannot get through. One effect of peer orientation is that the love and nurturance we have for our children cannot get through. This was certainly the case in Peter's situation and for many of the parents I have conferred with. There was no doubt that Peter's parents loved him, wanted the best for him, and were willing to sacrifice for him. However, they, like many parents in their situation, found it difficult to maintain love in the absence of any kind of reciprocity from their son and even more daunting
(5:18:59) A virtual banquet spread out before him but is suffering from psychological malnourishment because of attachment problems. You cannot feed someone who is not sitting at your table. All the love in the world would not be enough to take the child to the turning point. The umbilical cord needs to be hooked up for the nourishment to get through. It is impossible to satiate the attachment needs of a child who is not actively attaching to the person willing and able to provide for those needs. When a child replaces parents with peers as the primary attachment figures, it is to peers she will look for emotional nurturing. Plainly put, it is exceptional
(5:22:21) For the reasons discussed in the last chapter, peer-oriented children cannot permit themselves to feel their vulnerability. It may seem strange that feelings of fulfillment would require openness to feelings of vulnerability. There is no hurt or pain in fulfillment, quite the opposite. Yet there is an underlying emotional logic to this phenomenon. For the child to feel full, he must first feel empty. To feel helped, the child must first feel in need of help. To feel complete, he must have felt incomplete. To experience the joy of reunion, one must first experience the ache of loss.
(5:25:04) or are too defended against vulnerability to be capable of satiation. Insatiability keeps our children stuck in first gear developmentally, stuck in immaturity, unable to transcend basic instincts. They are thwarted from ever finding rest and remain ever dependent on someone or something outside themselves for satisfaction. Neither the discipline imposed by parents nor the love felt by them can cure this condition. The only hope is to bring children back into the attachment fold where they belong and then soften them up to where our love can actually
(7:03:27) baseball prospect, a draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2003, was found guilty of inviting sexual touching by a minor and sentenced to 45 days in jail. On one occasion, the young athlete had had two girls, ages 12 and 13, perform oral sex on him. At his successful appeal he argued that he had not initiated the contact the girls had. And why? The two alleged victims told the court that it was routine in their community for seventh-grade girls to offer oral sex to boys. One of them said that she participated because everyone else was doing it and
(7:03:27) baseball prospect, a draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2003, was found guilty of inviting sexual touching by a minor and sentenced to 45 days in jail. On one occasion, the young athlete had had two girls, ages 12 and 13, perform oral sex on him. At his successful appeal he argued that he had not initiated the contact, the girls had. And why? The two alleged victims told the court that it was routine in their community for seventh-grade girls to offer oral sex to boys. One of them said that she participated because everyone else was doing it
(7:38:06) Apart from attachments Highly emergent children usually have areas of keen interest and are intrinsically motivated to learn. They derive great satisfaction from forming an insight or in understanding how something works. They create their own goals around learning. They like to be original and seek self-mastery. Emergent learners take delight in responsibility and spontaneously move to realize their own potential. For teachers who value curiosity, invite questions, and give the child's interests the lead, emergent learners are a delight to teach.
(7:43:17) Our pedagogy and curriculum take the integrative abilities of children for granted. When we, as educators, fail to register what's missing, we also fail to realize what we're up against in trying to temper children's thinking or behavior. We try to get them to do something their minds are incapable of, and when we don't succeed, we punish them for that failure. Those with integrative minds assume that everyone else can think the same way, but this assumption no longer fits the kinds of learners we face in our classrooms today. Children who lack integrative intelligence are not amenable to this form of teaching and need to be
(7:43:44) someone else can think the same way. But this assumption no longer fits the kinds of learners we face in our classrooms today. Children who lack integrative intelligence are not amenable to this form of teaching and need to be approached differently. Peer-oriented students are more likely to be disabled learners, untempered in thought, feeling, and action. Peer orientation jeopardizes adaptive trial and error learning. Most learning occurs by adaptation, by a process of trial and error.
(7:43:44) Someone else can think the same way, but this assumption no longer fits the kinds of learners we face in our classrooms today. Children who lack integrative intelligence are not amenable to this form of teaching and need to be approached differently. Peer-oriented students are more likely to be disabled learners, untempered in thought, feeling, and action. Peer orientation jeopardizes adaptive trial and error learning. Most learning occurs by adaptation, by a process of trial and error. We attempt new
(7:43:54) are not amenable to this form of teaching and need to be approached differently. Peer-oriented students are more likely to be disabled learners, untempered in thought, feeling, and action. Peer orientation jeopardizes adaptive trial-and-error learning. Most learning occurs by adaptation, by a process of trial and error. We attempt new tasks, make mistakes, encounter stumbling blocks, get things wrong, and then draw the appropriate conclusions or have someone else draw them for us.
(7:44:01) to be disabled learners, untempered in thought, feeling, and action. Peer orientation jeopardizes adaptive trial-and-error learning. Most learning occurs by adaptation, by a process of trial and error. We attempt new tasks, make mistakes, encounter stumbling blocks, get things wrong, and then draw the appropriate conclusions or have someone else draw them for us. Failure is an essential part of the learning process, and correction is the primary instrument of teaching. The flight from
(7:44:01) to be disabled learners, untempered in thought, feeling, and action. Peer orientation jeopardizes adaptive trial-and-error learning. Most learning occurs by adaptation, by a process of trial and error. We attempt new tasks, make mistakes, encounter stumbling blocks, get things wrong, and then draw the appropriate conclusions or have someone else draw them for us. Failure is an essential part of the learning process, and correction is the primary instrument of teaching.
(8:13:23) move to restore what psychologist Gershen Kaufman has called the interpersonal bridge, and rebuilding that bridge is always our responsibility. We can't expect children to do it. They are not mature enough to understand the need for it. For teachers and/or other adults who are in charge of children not their own, collecting them should always be the first item of business. If we try to take care of children or to instruct them without having first collected them, we run counter to their natural instinct to resist the demands and instructions of strangers. It is undoubtedly this act of collecting a child that sets the master teacher
(8:16:51) of affection are potent. Researchers have identified emotional warmth, enjoyment, and delight at the top of the list as effective activators of attachment. If we have a twinkle in our eye and some warmth in our voice, we invite connection that most children will not turn down. When we give children signs that they matter to us, most children will want to hold on to the knowledge that they are special to us and appreciated in our life. For our own children, the physical component is key. Hugs and embraces were designed for children to hold on to and can warm up a child
(8:16:51) Researchers have identified emotional warmth, enjoyment, and delight at the top of the list as effective activators of attachment. If we have a twinkle in our eye and some warmth in our voice, we invite connection that most children will not turn down. When we give children signs that they matter to us, most children will want to hold on to the knowledge that they are special to us and appreciated in our life. For our own children, the physical component is key. Hugs and embraces were designed for children to hold on to and can warm up a child
(8:17:57) For the six modes of attachment, see Chapter 2. Although touch is important, we need to keep in mind that it is certainly not the only way to connect with children. For children who are emotionally defended against attaching in one of the more vulnerable ways, one may have to focus on less vulnerable offerings, like conveying a sense of sameness with a young person or finding an opportunity to demonstrate some loyalty by being on his side. In my work with young offenders, this was almost always where I started. Sometimes it would be as simple as noticing that we both had blue eyes or that we shared a similar interest.
(8:17:57) For the six modes of attachment, see chapter two. Although touch is important, we need to keep in mind that it is certainly not the only way to connect with children. For children who are emotionally defended against attaching in one of the more vulnerable ways, one may have to focus on less vulnerable offerings, like conveying a sense of sameness with a young person or finding an opportunity to demonstrate some loyalty by being on his side. In my work with young offenders, this was almost always where I started. Sometimes it would be as simple as noticing that we both had blue eyes or that we shared a similar interest.
(8:18:15) One may have to focus on less vulnerable offerings, like conveying a sense of sameness with the young person or finding an opportunity to demonstrate some loyalty by being on his side. In my work with young offenders, this was almost always where I started. Sometimes it would be as simple as noticing that we both had blue eyes or that we shared a similar interest and had something in common. Above all, an adult has to give something before the child will hold on. The ultimate gift is to make a child feel invited to exist in our presence exactly as he is, to express our delight in his very being.
(8:19:50) is conditional. Our challenge as parents is to provide an invitation that is too desirable and too important for a child to turn down, a loving acceptance that no peer can provide. In holding on to our gift of unconditional love, the child will be holding on to us emotionally, just as the infant held with closed fist the parent's finger. The child must perceive our offering to be spontaneous for connection to work. It may seem counterintuitive to say this, and I'll explain my reasons shortly, but we cannot collect a child by giving what is expected, whether it be part of a ritual
(8:19:50) is conditional. Our challenge as parents is to provide an invitation that is too desirable and too important for a child to turn down, a loving acceptance that no peer can provide. In holding on to our gift of unconditional love, the child will be holding on to us emotionally, just as the infant held with closed fist the parent's finger. The child must perceive our offering to be spontaneous for connection to work. It may seem counterintuitive to say this, and I'll explain my reasons shortly, but we cannot collect a child by giving what is expected, whether it be part of a ritual or as a birth
(8:20:07) The child will be holding on to us emotionally, just as the infant held with closed fist the parent's finger. The child must perceive our offering to be spontaneous for connection to work. It may seem counterintuitive to say this, and I'll explain my reasons shortly, but we cannot collect a child by giving what is expected, whether it be part of a ritual or as a birthday gift or as reward for some accomplishment. No matter how much fuss we may make, what we give under such circumstances will be associated with the situation or event, not with the relationship. Such giving never satisfies.
(8:20:42) the relationship. Such giving never satisfies. A child may enjoy gifts, whether physical or emotional, that are expected, but her attachment needs cannot be satiated by them. We cannot cultivate connection by indulging a child's demands, whether for attention, for affection, for recognition, or for significance. Although we can damage the relationship by withholding from a child when he is expressing a genuine need, meeting needs on demand must not be mistaken for enriching the relationship. In collecting a child, the element of initiative and surprise is vital.
(8:24:06) Responding to the child's request, the parent can take the initiative, expressing more interest and enthusiasm than the child anticipates. "Oh, that's a great idea! I was wondering how we could spend some time together. I'm so glad you thought of it." We take the child by surprise, making him feel that he is the one receiving the invitation. Nor can one collect a child or offer him something to hold on to by showering him with praise. Praise is usually about something the child has done, and as such is neither a gift nor spontaneous. Praise originates not in the adult but in the achievements
(8:24:16) I was wondering how we could spend some time together, I'm so glad you thought of it. We take the child by surprise, making him feel that he is the one receiving the invitation. Nor can one collect a child or offer him something to hold on to by showering him with praise. Praise is usually about something the child has done, and as such is neither a gift nor spontaneous. Praise originates not in the adult but in the achievements of the child. A child cannot hold on to praise because it is subject to cancellation with every failure. Even if he could hold on to the praise,
(8:27:11) Proceed without first having gained the child's trust is asking for trouble. This is true for the parent as well as the daycare worker, the babysitter, the teacher, the foster parent, the step-parent, or the counselor. Here, our new world preoccupation with independence gets in the way. We have no problem inviting the dependents of infants, but past that phase, independence becomes our primary agenda. Whether it is for our children to dress themselves, feed themselves, settle themselves, entertain themselves, think for themselves, solve their own problems, the story is the same.
(8:28:05) What we are really encouraging with this attitude is not true independence, only independence from us. Dependence is transferred to the peer group. In thousands of little ways, we pull and push our children to grow up, hurrying them along instead of inviting them to rest. We are pushing them away from us rather than bringing them to us. We could never court each other as adults by resisting dependence. Can you imagine the effect on wooing if we conveyed the message, Don't expect me to help you with anything I think you could or should be able to do yourself.
(8:29:53) ...are natural processes, we lose perspective. We become afraid our children will get stuck and never grow up. Perhaps we think that if we don't push a little, they will never leave the nest. Human beings are not like birds in this respect. The more children are pushed, the tighter they cling, or, failing that, they nest with someone else. Life comes in seasons. We cannot get to spring by resisting winter. In winter, plants are dormant. They will burst into bloom when spring comes. We cannot get to independence by resisting dependence. Only when the dependence needs are met
(8:30:03) They will never leave the nest. Human beings are not like birds in this respect. The more children are pushed, the tighter they cling. Or, failing that, they nest with someone else. Life comes in seasons. We cannot get to spring by resisting winter. In winter, plants are dormant. They will burst into bloom when spring comes. We cannot get to independence by resisting dependence. Only when the dependence needs are met does the quest for true independence begin. By resisting dependence, we thwart the movement to independence and postpone its realization.
(8:31:47) to depend upon them who are more likely to be effective in fostering independence in the end. A master teacher, rather than pushing pupils toward independence, supplies them instead with generous offerings of assistance. A master teacher wants her students to think for themselves, but knows the students cannot get there if she resists their dependence or chastises them for lacking maturity. Her students are free to lean on her without any sense of shame for their neediness. There is no shortcut to true independence. The only way to become independent is through being dependent.
(8:34:33) Lost and confused, separated from your belongings, unable to speak or understand the language, and feeling helpless and hopeless about your circumstances. Imagine someone approaching you and offering her assistance in your own language. After she had helped orient you about the persons to contact and places to go, every instinct within you would be primed to maintain closeness with your guide. Once she turned to go, you would undoubtedly seek to prolong the conversation, grasping at straws to keep her close. This being true for adults, how much more so for immature creatures of attachment completely dependent on others to get their bearings.
(11:41:23) Outings were planned with this in mind. The adults took the lead in collecting the children. This kind of family socializing took us by surprise at first, but it made perfect sense from an attachment perspective. The greater the number of caring adults in a child's life, the more immune he or she will be to peer orientation. As much as possible, we should be participating with our children in village-like activities that connect children to adults, whether through religious or ethnic centers, sports activities, cultural events, or in the community at large. On a street around the corner from my co-author's house
(11:45:19) Any visitor to Africa cannot help but notice the joyful spontaneity, the natural smiles, the freely loose bodily movements of the African child. That comes from close contact with loving adults in the attachment village. Alas, it's a culture now being devastated by war and famine in many places. I bring up these examples not to blame our own culture, but to show what we have lost by way of instinctive, attachment-based parenting. We may not be able to return to such practices, but we have to compensate for their loss in any way we can. Hence my insistence that we
(12:11:34) At the core of our being, it is not information about the world that human beings seek, nor even entertainment. When it comes to engaging the attentional mechanisms of our brains, neither information nor entertainment has priority. In fact, in our brain's hierarchy of importance, information ranks very low. It is more likely to be tuned out than tuned in. The brain filters out most sensory and cognitive data reaching it, lest it lose sight of what is essential at any moment. As we have seen throughout this book, our primary and dominant need is to
(12:11:34) At the core of our being, it is not information about the world that human beings seek, nor even entertainment. When it comes to engaging the attentional mechanisms of our brains, neither information nor entertainment has priority. In fact, in our brain's hierarchy of importance, information ranks very low. It is more likely to be tuned out than tuned in. The brain filters out most sensory and cognitive data reaching it, lest it lose sight of what is essential at any moment. As we have seen throughout this book, our primary and dominant need is...
(12:11:50) In fact, in our brain's hierarchy of importance, information ranks very low. It is more likely to be tuned out than tuned in. The brain filters out most sensory and cognitive data reaching it, lest it lose sight of what is essential at any moment. As we have seen throughout this book, our primary and dominant need is togetherness. It is connection we seek, not factual information about the world. Human beings, often as adults but especially as immature young creatures, are hungry for information not about the world, but about our attempts
(12:11:50) as priority. In fact, in our brain's hierarchy of importance, information ranks very low. It is more likely to be tuned out than tuned in. The brain filters out most sensory and cognitive data reaching it, lest it lose sight of what is essential at any moment. As we have seen throughout this book, our primary and dominant need is togetherness. It is connection we seek, not factual information about the world. Human beings, often as adults but especially as immature young creatures, are hungry for information not about the world, but about our attention.
(12:12:07) As we have seen throughout this book, our primary and dominant need is togetherness. It is connection we seek, not factual information about the world. Human beings, often as adults but especially as immature young creatures, are hungry for information not about the world but about our attachment status. We want assurance that we belong to those who matter to us. We are concerned that we are seen as similar to those we value, that we are important to them and liked by them, that we are wanted and understood by them, that we matter.
(12:12:31) We want assurance that we belong to those who matter to us. We are concerned that we are seen as similar to those we value, that we are important to them and liked by them, that we are wanted and understood by them, that we matter. We are driven to know whether or not we are invited into another's presence, and we present ourselves in the hope that this invitation will be forthcoming. Business is not our highest priority, nor is learning, nor entertainment. What shapes our interaction more than any other factor is attachment.
(14:07:54) Much of our behavior shapes our social habits and informs our ways of thinking about the world. It can even determine whether or not we are capable of rational thought at all in matters of the greatest importance to our lives. For many of us, it rears its head in our closest partnerships, causing all kinds of relational mischief. It was in 1889 that the pioneering French psychologist Pierre Jeannet first depicted traumatic memory as being held in automatic actions and reactions, sensations and attitudes, replayed and reenacted in viscer...
(14:07:54) Much of our behavior shapes our social habits and informs our ways of thinking about the world. It can even determine whether or not we are capable of rational thought at all in matters of the greatest importance to our lives. For many of us, it rears its head in our closest partnerships, causing all kinds of relational mischief. It was in 1889 that the pioneering French psychologist Pierre Jeannet first depicted traumatic memory as being held in automatic actions and reactions, sensations and attitudes replayed and reenacted in viss...
(14:10:21) five or six weeks of my life when I couldn't see you. I survived thanks to the kindness and courage of the unknown Christian woman to whom my mother entrusted me in the street and who conveyed me to relatives living in hiding under relatively safer circumstances. Reunited with my mother after the Soviet army had put the Germans to flight, I did not so much as look at her for several days. The great twentieth-century British psychiatrist and psychologist John Bowlby was familiar with such behavior. He called it detachment. At his clinic, he observed
(14:10:21) five or six weeks of my life when I couldn't see you. I survived thanks to the kindness and courage of the unknown Christian woman to whom my mother entrusted me in the street and who conveyed me to relatives living in hiding under relatively safer circumstances. Reunited with my mother after the Soviet Army had put the Germans to flight, I did not so much as look at her for several days. The great 20th century British psychiatrist and psychologist John Bowlby was familiar with such behavior. He called it detachment. At his clinic, he observed
(14:10:30) woman to whom my mother entrusted me in the street and who conveyed me to relatives living in hiding under relatively safer circumstances. Reunited with my mother after the Soviet army had put the Germans to flight, I did not so much as look at her for several days. The great 20th century British psychiatrist and psychologist John Bowlby was familiar with such behavior. He called it detachment. At his clinic, he observed ten small children who had to endure prolonged separation from their parents due to uncontrollable circumstances. On meeting mother
(14:11:04) long separation from their parents due to uncontrollable circumstances. On meeting Mother for the first time after days or weeks away, every one of the children showed some degree of detachment, Bowlby observed. Two seemed not to recognize Mother. The other eight turned away or even walked away from her. Most of them either cried or came close to tears. A number alternated between a tearful and expressionless face. It may seem counterintuitive, but this reflexive rejection of the loving mother is an adaptation. I was so hurt when you abandoned me, says the young child's mother
(14:11:04) ...long separation from their parents due to uncontrollable circumstances. On meeting mother for the first time after days or weeks away, every one of the children showed some degree of detachment, Bowlby observed. Two seemed not to recognize mother, the other eight turned away or even walked away from her. Most of them either cried or came close to tears. A number alternated between a tearful and expressionless face. It may seem counterintuitive, but this reflexive rejection of the loving mother is an adaptation. I was so hurt when you abandoned me, says the young child's mind.
(14:11:11) Each time after days or weeks away, every one of the children showed some degree of detachment, Bowlby observed. Two seemed not to recognize mother. The other eight turned away or even walked away from her. Most of them either cried or came close to tears. A number alternated between a tearful and expressionless face. It may seem counterintuitive, but this reflexive rejection of the loving mother is an adaptation. I was so hurt when you abandoned me, says the young child's mind, that I will not reconnect with you. I don't dare open myself to that pain again.
(14:11:11) This time, after days or weeks away, every one of the children showed some degree of detachment, Bowlby observed. Two seemed not to recognize mother. The other eight turned away or even walked away from her. Most of them either cried or came close to tears. A number alternated between a tearful and expressionless face. It may seem counterintuitive, but this reflexive rejection of the loving mother is an adaptation. I was so hurt when you abandoned me, says the young child's mind, that I will not reconnect with you. I don't dare open myself to that pain again.
(14:11:31) It may seem counterintuitive, but this reflexive rejection of the loving mother is an adaptation. I was so hurt when you abandoned me, says the young child's mind, that I will not reconnect with you. I don't dare open myself to that pain again. In many children, and I was certainly one, early reactions like these become embedded in the nervous system, mind, and body, playing havoc with future relationships. They show up throughout the lifetime in response to any incident even vaguely resembling the original imprint.

What N8n Taught Me About Better Script Architecture

2026-08-15T15:25:57Z

I recently started using N8n, and something clicked.

What I love about N8n is deceptively simple: I can pause at any step, inspect the output, and rerun it. All previous steps? Already done. I can see the input and output for every single node in the workflow.

As someone who's been programming for almost 20 years, this felt good. And it got me thinking:

How can we achieve the same thing in traditional programming?

Because let's be honest—coding is fast. Especially now with vibe coding and AI assistants, we can ship things faster than ever. But speed often comes at the cost of visibility and control.

A Simple Architecture That Changes Everything

Here's what I came up with—it's almost embarrassingly simple:

Each step (action in n8n terms) is a single Python file. Input is a JSON file. Output is a JSON file.

That's it.

python step_01_fetch_data.py --output data/01_raw.json
python step_02_transform.py --input data/01_raw.json --output data/02_transformed.json
python step_03_enrich.py --input data/02_transformed.json --output data/03_enriched.json

Why This Works

Full transparency — You can inspect any intermediate state at any time
Easy debugging — Something broke at step 3? Just rerun step 3. Steps 1 and 2 are already done.
Version control friendly — JSON outputs can be committed for reproducibility
Perfect for iteration — Tweak one step without touching the rest

The Scripting Mindset

This isn't about building monolithic applications. It's about embracing a scripting style of development—small, composable units with clear boundaries.

In an era of complex pipelines and AI workflows, sometimes the best architecture is the one you can actually see.